Danish major general handed key UN peacekeeping position

One of the highest-placed Danes in a UN military position in history

The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-Moon, revealed over the weekend that the Major General Michael Anker Lollesgaard will be appointed as the force commander of the UN’s peacekeeping mission in Mali.

The appointment means that Lollesgaard will be one of the highest-placed Danes in a UN military position in history.

“I am pleased that Denmark has been able to supply such a well-qualified candidate for such an important and challenging post in the UN – and that he was chosen,” Nicolai Wammen, the defence minister, said.

“Denmark has only once before had a higher military position in the UN. I see the appointment as an approval of Major General Michael Anker Lollesgaard’s competencies and Denmark’s engagement in UN peacekeeping work.”

READ MORE: Denmark sending troops to UN mission in Mali

Leading 8,700 men
Lollesgaard will head the military part of the mission in Mali (UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali – MINUSMA) and lead 8,700 UN soldiers from 40 countries.

Lollesgaard, who will step down as head of Danske Division – which makes up the majority of Denmark’s army – has previously held the position as the Danish representative to the UN in New York and been stationed on international operations in the likes of Iraq and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The government has contributed up to 75 military personnel and a C-130J cargo aircraft to the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali since 2014.

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