A high-stakes game in the Balkans

Eufor

Eufor Althea, the EU's largest ever mission, was launched in December 2004 to take over from NATO peacekeepers who had entered Bosnia after the Dayton peace accords of November 1995.

Eufor, just like NATO's Implementation Force (Ifor) and its Stabilisation Force (Sfor), was supposed to contribute to a safe and secure environment through deterrence and reassurance. All three missions operated under a peacekeeping mandate from the United Nations Security Council, which allowed them to use force in self-defence.

Neither NATO nor the EU has suffered any combat casualties during close to 16 years of operations in post-war Bosnia.

EU foreign ministers agreed in October to downsize Eufor, without giving specific numbers, and to concentrate on ‘non-executive' tasks such as the training of local security forces. They also decided to provide reserve forces to reinforce Eufor in case of serious disturbances – again without providing specifics. Eufor's troops come primarily from Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary and Turkey. They number fewer than 1,300.

Military role

National foreign ministers met in Luxembourg on 10 October to discuss, among other topics, the situation in Bosnia. Below is an extract from the conclusions to that meeting:

“The [Foreign Affairs] Council confirmed the EU's readiness to continue at this stage an executive military role to support Bosnia and Herzegovina's efforts to maintain the safe and secure environment under a renewed UN mandate. The main effort of Operation Althea will be on capacity-building and training, while maintaining situational awareness and a credible reserve in case it is called upon to support efforts to maintain or restore the safe and secure environment.

“The operation will be reconfigured, with forces based in Bosnia and Herzegovina which will focus on capacity-building and training, while also retaining the means to contribute to the Bosnia and Herzegovina authorities' deterrence capacity. A reserve force will be based over the horizon with regular in-country reconnaissance and rehearsal.”

EUPM

In July, member states' ambassadors on the EU's Political and Security Committee – the EU's main decision-making body on security affairs – decided that the EU's police mission in Bosnia (EUPM) should close in mid-2012.

The decision was a compromise between the UK, which wanted the EUPM to continue, and France and Germany, which wanted it to close right away.

The mission currently has 300 officials – around half of whom are local and half from the EU – and a budget of €17.6 million for 2011. It took over from a United Nations police force in 2003 and today focuses on supporting local law-enforcement agencies in fighting corruption and organised crime.