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Operation Althea, formally the European Union Force Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUFOR), is a military deployment in
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...
to oversee the military implementation of the
Dayton Agreement The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement or the Dayton Accords ( Croatian: ''Daytonski sporazum'', Serbian and Bosnian: ''Dejtonski mirovni sporazum'' / Дејтонски миро ...
. It is the successor to
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
's SFOR and
IFOR The Implementation Force (IFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peace enforcement force in Bosnia and Herzegovina under a one-year mandate from 20 December 1995 to 20 December 1996 under the codename ''Operation Joint Endeavour''. Background NATO ...
. The transition from SFOR to EUFOR was largely a change of name and commanders: 80% of the troops remained in place. It replaced SFOR on 2 December 2004.


General aspects

Civilian implementation of the Dayton Agreement is enforced by the Office of the High Representative. In 2007, EUFOR had 600 troops from 21 countries, mostly from the member states of the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...
(EU). There are, however, additional troops from other non-EU member states such as
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
and
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
. EUFOR's commander is
Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
Anton Wessely of
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populou ...
(all of EUFOR's commanders since 2009 have been Austrians). For this mission, the
European Union Military Staff The Military Staff of the European Union (EUMS) is the directorate-general of the European Union's (EU) External Action Service (EEAS) that contributes to the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) by providing strategic advice to the Hi ...
is using NATO's
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) is the military headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) that commands all NATO operations worldwide. ACO's and SHAPE's commander is tit ...
(SHAPE) as the EU's Operational Headquarters (OHQ) and is working through the Deputy to the
Supreme Allied Commander Supreme Allied Commander is the title held by the most senior commander within certain multinational military alliances. It originated as a term used by the Allies during World War I, and is currently used only within NATO for Supreme Allied Com ...
Europe, a European officer. EUFOR assumed all the missions of SFOR, except for the hunt for individuals indicted by the war crimes tribunal, notably
Radovan Karadžić Radovan Karadžić ( sr-cyr, Радован Караџић, ; born 19 June 1945) is a Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Serb politician, psychiatrist and poet. He was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes ...
, former leader of
Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located ...
, and
Ratko Mladić Ratko Mladić ( sr-Cyrl, Ратко Младић, ; born 12 March 1942) is a Bosnian Serb convicted war criminal and colonel-general who led the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) during the Yugoslav Wars. In 2017, he was found guilty of committing ...
, their former military leader, which remained a mission for NATO through NATO Headquarters Sarajevo. EUFOR does have police duties against organised crime, which is believed to be linked to suspected war criminals. It worked with the
European Union Police Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina The European Union Police Mission (EUPM) was the European Union's mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina that aided the local police organizations, and was one of a number of European Union Police Missions worldwide. It was the first such mission unde ...
(EUPM) and with the
Bosnian Police Law enforcement in Bosnia and Herzegovina is the responsibility of an EU-sponsored Bosnia police force to which the role of maintaining security in the region was handed over from the United Nations's 1,800 strong International Police Task Force.BB ...
. The European Union Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina provides political guidance on military issues with a local political dimension to the EUFOR. , the total force of EUFOR is at 600 troops from 19 countries, including EU member states and non-EU "Troop Contributing Countries" (TCC) are present within EUFOR (Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Chile, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, North Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey). On 18th December 2020, the United Kingdom marked the end of its 16 year contribution to EUFOR, following Brexit. As of early 2021, EUFOR personnel bases include: * Multinational Battalion is EUFOR's military maneuver unit for BiH, located at Camp Butmir, Sarajevo and comprises troops from Austria, Hungary and Turkey; * 17 LOT Houses located throughout BiH to connect EUFOR to local communities and authorities. From north to south, west to east – Cazin, Banja Luka (Romania) and Banja Luka (Chile), Brcko, Doboj, Tuzla, Zavidovici, Travnik, Bratunac, Zenica, Sarajevo (headquarters), Livno, Jablanica, Visegrad, Foca, Mostar, and Trebinje.Accessed 29 April 2021 http://www.euforbih.org/index.php/eufor-elements/eufor-houses


Commanders


See also

*
Military of the European Union The Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) is the European Union's (EU) course of action in the fields of defence and crisis management, and a main component of the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The CSDP involves the depl ...
* European Union rapid reaction mechanism *
Common Security and Defence Policy The Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) is the European Union's (EU) course of action in the fields of defence and crisis management, and a main component of the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The CSDP involves the dep ...
*
European Union Military Operation in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia EUFOR Concordia was a European Union (EU) peacekeeping mission in the Republic of North Macedonia, which started on 31 March 2003. The EU took over from NATO's operation Allied Harmony and deployed around 300 troops to provide security to EU and Or ...


References


Further reading


Le Monde (in French)
*http://eeas.europa.eu/archives/csdp/missions-and-operations/althea-bih/pdf/factsheet_eufor_althea_en.pdf * Dominik Tolksdor
The Difficulties of the European Union in Supporting the Europeanization of Bosnia and Herzegovina
EU Frontier Policy Paper, Budapest: Center for EU Enlargement Studies – Central European University, 2011


External links


Official EUFOR websiteThe Council of the European Union's page on EUFOR-Althea

The European Union Special Representative (EUSR) for Bosnia and Herzegovinathe European Commission's Delegation to Bosnia & Herzegovina
{{DEFAULTSORT:Althea International law enforcement organizations Law enforcement in Bosnia and Herzegovina Althea Bosnia and Herzegovina–European Union relations