Minister Giulio Terzi and Minister for Defence Giampaolo Di Paola hailed the UN General Assembly’s decision to expand the UN Logistics Base in Brindisi (UNLB), to which it will transferr additional support for peacekeeping operations.
Today’s decision is part of the implementation of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s plan for improving the rapid deployment capabilities of the blue helmets and for rationalizing costs of peacekeeping and humanitarian operations.
The Brindisi base is therefore poised to become the most important hub in the world for peacekeeping and security operations involving the blue helmets, known for its extraordinary capacity for response and ability to offer logistic support for 17 peacekeeping operations and 14 political missions.
THE UNGA decision to boost the base’s central role in the overall UN system and in the world’s main crisis areas constitutes major recognition of Italy, the sixth largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping budget and first in the EU for number of troops.
