Greece as a full member of UN, NATO, EU, and other International Organizations, participates in peacekeeping missions, giving particular emphasis on those occurring in the regions of immediate interest, such as the Balkans and the broader area of the Middle East. Since early 80s our contribution has been limited to a small number of observers and small military units, at company level, with some rare exceptions, e.g. Korean War.
In the context of the U.N. activities and the Security Council Resolutions, Greece participates in peacekeeping missions, allocating cadres from the three Services of the Armed Forces.

The Hellenic contribution in peacekeeping missions is subject to certain fundamental conditions, such as the existence of a Resolution or a Mandate of the U.N., before establishing a force, chain of command and size, as well the adoption of clear Rules of Engagement.

Peace support operations in which the Hellenic Army has participated in the last decade of the 20th Century and early 21st Century, demonstrated that military organization can adapt quickly and adequately to any scenario and requirements within the International Community.

From 1945 up to 1990, the United Nations have always had, with rare exceptions, the exclusive and direct responsibility and authority for peacekeeping operations. To deal with all regional conflicts and crises, the U.N. developed an extensive network of International Observers and light military units with limited responsibility.

In late 80s the international environment was fragile and consequently emerged the need for decisive act, while other regional organizations such as the E.U. OSCE, and NATO, were significant and sometimes crucial supporters of the international stability. The end of the Cold War did not solve instability problems, despite hope for the opposite. The deployment of unarmed observers in various parts of the world where conflicts were taking place, without the cooperation of the local conflicting parties, resulted to the creation and development of the doctrine for Imposing Peace by the UN, NATO and EU, in order to persuade or force the conflicting parties to come to a peaceful settlement of their differences.