A medal parade was held today at EUFOR Headquarters in Camp Butmir, Sarajevo. COS EUFOR, Brigadier General Albert Sáfár, presented the European Union Common Security and Defence Policy Medal Althea to 91 service personnel from 8 different nations and thanked them for their dedicated service in and for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“You have contributed a lot to the success of EUFOR by giving your personal efforts, serving our goals here in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Our presence in this country is still of great importance. Our mutual and international assistance and support – which includes your devotion, too – contributed and still contributes to the safe and secure environment, to the training of the Armed Forces and to the path of Bosnia and Herzegovina towards the EU.”, he said.

Medal recipient Captain Gary Holohan of the Irish Army said, “I am so proud to have served my country on this operation. Working with other European Countries and Partner Nations has been very interesting and rewarding.”

The EUFOR Operation Althea is currently made up of soldiers from 16 EU member states and 5 partner nations. Its primary roles are to provide capacity building and training support to the Armed Forces of BiH and to support BiH efforts to maintain a safe and secure environment, whilst providing support to the overall EU comprehensive strategy for BiH.