The Security Council chairman, British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry, has informed UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in writing that members of the Council have taken note of Annan's intention to appoint Repinc, whereby the general's appointment was formally accepted.
The UN Secretariat has informed the Croatian mission to the World Organisation that Major General Repinc is to take up his duties on 28 December. He will travel to New York soon to make the necessary preparations at the UN headquarters for his new post.
Repinc will succeed General Guido Dante Palmiera of Italy, who left the mission in September. As military commander of the mission, Repinc will also be its head.
Repinc will be the highest ranking Croatian citizen in the service of the United Nations, or in any international peace mission in the world. The post of mission military commander and mission head ranks immediately below that of assistant secretary general.
The appointment of General Repinc as head of UNMOGIP is seen as a contribution to Croatia's international image, and Croatian diplomats in New York consider it important in the context of the country's ambition to join NATO and as support for its application for non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council in the 2008-2009 period.
The UNMOGIP mission was launched in 1949 to oversee the cease-fire between India and Pakistan in Kashmir.