Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at the Third United Nations Chiefs of Police Summit

Distinguished participants of the Summit, 

We have to start our statement by drawing your attention to the fact that due to the actions of the United Stated, the Russian delegation of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs headed by Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev was prevented from taking part in the Summit. Members of the Russian delegation simply weren’t issued visas. This is yet another flagrant violation by the United States of its obligations under the UN Headquarters Agreement. 

In this regard, we would like to emphasize once again that issuing visas to delegates is not a privilege, but an international legal obligation of the United States. Refusing to issue visas to delegates from certain States is contrary to the principle of sovereign equality and hinders their effective participation in the work of the Organization.

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

Peacekeepers perform the difficult tasks of maintaining peace and security. And recently the working conditions of the "blue helmets" got significantly more complicated in many countries. Weak and inefficient national law enforcement agencies contribute to the creation of a security vacuum that is being filled by criminal elements.

UN police officers often have to take on the functions of national law enforcement agencies. At the same time, it is important to establish effective engagement between peacekeepers and civilians. Police officers should be able to listen to their concerns considering national specifics as well as possible ethnic, religious and other tensions. Female police officers can play an especially important role in these efforts. For example, female representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation have long and successfully been working in Cyprus, South Sudan, Abyei, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

It is important to remember that the UN is not a party to the conflict and cannot permanently replace the efforts of local police. Thus, it is necessary to assist in building the capacity of national law enforcement agencies and reforming the security sector, transferring experience and working methods, and training personnel. 

Our country conducts training courses for Russian and foreign law enforcement agencies on the basis of the UN-certified Peacekeeping Training Center of the All-Russian Advanced Training Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation in Domodedovo. For more than 20 years, more than 2.5 thousand highly professional police officers graduated from the Center programs. The course program is specifically targeted at law enforcement officers from developing countries in Africa, including women. We intend to continue to contribute to the work of peacekeeping police. 

Thank you.