Guterres appoints new Unficyp force commander

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed Major General Erdenebat Batsuuri of Mongolia as force commander of the United National Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (Unficyp).

According to an announcement on Tuesday evening, Batsuuri succeeds Major General Ingrid Gjerde of Norway.

The UN published a short CV of Major General Batsuuri according to which he has had a distinguished career in the Mongolian Armed Forces, serving most recently as the Chief of Staff at the Mongolian Air Force Command (2020-2023).  He was previously Senior Officer in the General Staff of the Mongolian Armed Forces (2017-2018) as well as Chief of the Peace Support Operation Division within the General Staff of the Mongolian Armed Forces (2014-2017).

“He has been deployed in eight United Nations and North Atlantic Treaty Organization peacekeeping and peace support operations including in Iraq, Sierra Leone, Sudan and South Sudan.  Notably, he served as a Contingent Commander in United Nations Mission in Liberia (2010-2011), and as a Battalion Commander in UN Mission in South Sudan (2013-2014).  He also held the positions of Chief of Staff in UNMISS Sector South (2018-2019) and Juba Sector Commander (2021-2022),” the UN said.

Major General Batsuuri holds a master’s degree from the National University of Defence in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, specialising as an Infantry officer.  He is a graduate of the Air Command and Staff College and the Army War College in the United States.  He is fluent in English and Mongolian.