DOMODEDOVO, Moscow Region. April 19 (Interfax-AVN) - Some 500 officers of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry are working within international police forces of the United Nations and OSCE, Colonel Dmitry Oshchepkov, chief of the peacekeeping subdepartment in the ministry's HR department, told Interfax- Military News Agency on Friday.
Operations within international police forces are considered top priority by the ministry and will expand, Oshchepkov said. He is attending a two-day conference timed to the 10th anniversary of the Russian Interior Ministry's involvement in UN-sponsored peacekeeping operations.
According to Oshchepkov, representatives of Ukrainian law- enforcement agencies are working within international police contingents in Kosovo, Bosnia, East Timor and South Ossetia.
"Involvement of our representatives in the UN international law-enforcement mission in Congo has been approved," the official said.
"Last year we launched an experiment on recruitment of retired Interior Ministry officers to international police forces. Of course, it only concerns the officers who have positive recommendations, are below 50 years of age and healthy enough to work as part international missions abroad," Oshchepkov stressed.