Secretary-General Appoints Major General Erdenebat Batsuuri of Mongolia Force Commander, United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Major General Erdenebat Batsuuri of Mongolia as Force Commander of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).

Major General Batsuuri succeeds Major General Ingrid Gjerde of Norway, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her exemplary service and dedication.

Major General Batsuuri 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 (NATO) peacekeeping and peace support operations including in Iraq, Sierra Leone, Sudan and South Sudan.  Notably, he served as a Contingent Commander in the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) from 2010 to 2011 and as a Battalion Commander in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) from 2013 to 2014.  He also held the positions of Chief of Staff in UNMISS Sector South (2018-2019) and Juba Sector Commander (2021-2022).

Major General Batsuuri holds a master’s degree from the National University of Defence in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, specializing 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.