Defense ministry to train Belarusian peacekeepers in Vietnam

December 20, Pozirk. Belarus is interested in training its servicemen at Vietnam’s Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPO), the defense ministry’s press office reported.

Valeryj Ravienka, head of the ministry’s military cooperation department, discussed the matter with Pham Manh Thang, Vietnam’s senior defense official in charge of the DPO.

The officials reportedly were “unanimous” in the opinion that “peace and security” play an important role in the current international situation.

Belarus and Vietnam established diplomatic relations in January 1992. On December 8, both countries signed a visa waiver agreement.

The Viciebsk-based 103rd Airborne Brigade is the only Belarusian peacekeeping unit that is a part of the Collective Security Treaty Organization’s peacekeeping forces.

Belarusian peacekeepers are authorized to monitor the fulfilment of truce or ceasefire agreements during military conflicts, disengage the warring parties and provide medical assistance to civilians.