EUFOR Fact Sheet

EU military operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina
(Operation EUFOR ALTHEA)

Mission background

The military operation ALTHEA in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) was launched on 2 December 2004 and has contributed to the maintenance of the safe and secure environment in BiH. The decision to launch Operation ALTHEA followed the decision by NATO to conclude its SFOR-operation and the adoption by the UN Security Council of resolution 1575 authorising the deployment of an EU force in BiH. In the framework of Operation ALTHEA, the EU deployed 7000 troops, under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, to ensure continued compliance with the Dayton/Paris Agreement and to contribute to a safe and secure environment in BiH. Operation ALTHEA is carried out with recourse to NATO assets and capabilities, under the "Berlin Plus" arrangements.

Mandate and objectives
Following a Council decision in December 2006, EUFOR has been reconfigured a number of times, the most recent being in September 2012. The force now numbers some 600 troops in Bosnia and Herzegovina, backed up by over-the-horizon reserves. EUFOR continues to act in accordance with its peace enforcement mandate under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, as specified in UN Security Council Resolutions 1575 (2004), 1639 (2005), 1722 (2006), and 1785 (2007), 1845 (2008), 1895 (2009), 1945 (2010), 2019 (2011), renewed by the Security Council Resolution 2074 from November 2012.

The main objectives of Operation ALTHEA are:
• To support BiH efforts to maintain the safe and secure environment in BiH.

• To provide capacity-building and training support to the BiH Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces.

EUFOR supports the implementation of a number of tasks that have been transferred from the operation to local authorities, such as: countermines activities, military and civilian movement control of weapons and ammunition, as well as the management of weapons and ammunition and storage sites.

EUFOR actively continues to provide support to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in pursuit of persons indicted for war crimes, while noting that the responsibility for full cooperation with ICTY rests with the BiH authorities.

A multinational manoeuvre battalion is based in Sarajevo and EUFOR also retains its presence throughout the country through the Liaison and Observation Teams (LOTs). The Multinational manoeuvre battalion, based in Camp Butmir, is made up of troops from Austria, Turkey and Hungary. EUFOR retains its capacity to react throughout the country to any possible security challenges.

The Operation Commander is General Sir Richard Shirreff (UK). The EU's Political and Security Committee (PSC) exercises the political control and strategic direction of the operation, under the responsibility of the Council of the EU.

In the context of the European Union's overall commitment in Bosnia and Herzegovina, on 14 November 2012, the Council of the European Union reconfirmed that Operation ALTHEA, calling on all Bosnia and Herzegovina’s political leaders to refrain from divisive rhetoric and make further concrete and tangible progress towards European Union integration. The Security Council authorized a one-year renewal of the European Union multinational stabilization force (EUFOR ALTHEA) until 15 November 2013. Unanimously adopting resolution 2074 (2012) under the Charter’s Chapter VII, the Council stipulated that EUFOR ALTHEA would have the main peace-stabilization role under the military aspects of the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement.
Welcoming the Union’s intention to maintain the military operation to fulfil its missions in relation to the implementation of annex 1-A and annex 2 of the Agreement, the Council also recalled that EUFOR ALTHEA could take such actions as required, including the use of force, to ensure compliance with those annexes and relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions. The Council reiterated that Bosnia and Herzegovina bore the primary responsibility for the further successful implementation of the Peace Agreement. It also emphasized its full support for the role of the High Representative in monitoring the implementation of the Peace Agreement.

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