Minister Gordan Jandroković participated in UN Security Council thematic session Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict

In his speech before the Security Council, Minister Jandroković thanked the Austrian Presidency for initiating a discussion on such an important issue that often poses a threat to international peace and security

In his speech before the Security Council, Minister Jandroković thanked the Austrian Presidency for initiating a discussion on such an important issue that often poses a threat to international peace and security. He warned about the civilians increasingly often falling victim to the horrors of war, where civilian murders and deportation, ethnic cleansing and sexual violence against women and children are no more a consequence, but one of the means of warfare.

Mentioning Croatia’s experience from the Homeland War, he pointed out that there is still a discrepancy between the theory of the international humanitarian law and its implementations. Since most victims occurred before the arrival of peacekeeping forces in Croatia, he supported the passing of a resolution that would prompt the international community to respond faster and minimize the threats to civilian safety.

Minister Jandroković recalled that in 1999, as part of the UN mandate to Sierra Leone, the Security Council passed for the first time an important decision on protecting the civilians in armed conflict, and has since continued to implement different mechanisms of civilian protection. The UN has thus developed a more integrated and multidimensional approach to its peacekeeping missions, placing emphasis not only on the military and security issues, but also on the issues of protecting civilians, strengthening the civil society, reforming the security sector through the strengthening of police and judicial bodies, and economic reconstruction and development. By establishing international courts of justice for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, the Security Council has turned a new chapter in international law and prompted the setting up of other courts as well, which has proved an efficient means of prosecuting crimes.

Minister Jandroković expressed concern over the frequent and brutal examples of disabling the humanitarian aid from reaching civilians, emphasizing that it is the duty of the Security Council to respond decisively in such cases.

The session adopted Resolution 1894 (2009), whose drawing up saw Croatia’s participation as well. The resolution was co-sponsored by Croatia and unifies numerous existing resolutions on the protection of civilians in armed conflict passed by the Security Council in the last two years. Minister Jandroković expressed hope that this resolution would further improve the conditions for civilian protection and said that Croatia would continue with its active engagement in other areas as well.

After the session, Minister Jandroković attended the working lunch organized by Austrian Federal Minister for European and International Affairs Michael Spindelegger, which also saw the attendance of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The collocutors discussed a series of topics from international foreign policy, with an emphasis on the world’s crisis focal points and the participation of the UN peacekeeping forces.

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