Secretary-General Appoints Major General Michael Lollesgaard of Denmark Force Commander of UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced today the appointment of Major General Michael Lollesgaard of Denmark as the Force Commander of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).

Major General Lollesgaard succeeds Major General Jean Bosco Kazura of Rwanda, who completed his tour of duty mid-December 2014.  The Secretary-General is grateful for his dedicated and exemplary service during his tenure with MINUSMA.

Major General Lollesgaard brings to this position 30 years of national and international military experience with the Danish Army.  Commander of the Danish Division since March 2013, Major General Lollesgaard has had the distinction of training military brigades from multiple countries.  He has a broad international experience, including serving as Assistant Military Adviser to the Permanent Mission of Denmark to the United Nations in New York, deployments in peace support operations in the Balkans and Iraq, and commanding the multinational Peace Support Operations Training Centre in Bosnia-Herzegovina, from 2007 to 2009.

Major General Lollesgaard is a graduate of the Command and General Staff College, Royal Danish Defence College, Copenhagen, Denmark.