EUFOR Althea

European Union Force Althea is a military deployment in Bosnia and Herzegovina to oversee the military implementation of the Dayton Agreement. It is the successor to NATO's SFOR and IFOR. The transition from SFOR to EUFOR was largely a change of name and commanders: 80% of the troops remained in place. [BBC: [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3944191.stm EU troops prepare for Bosnia swap] ] It replaced the NATO-led SFOR on 2 December 2004.

Civilian implementation of the Dayton Agreement is enforced by the Office of High Representative. EUFOR has 2,503 troops from 27 countries [ [http://www.euforbih.org/eufor/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=145&Itemid=62 EUFOR Troop Strength (Nov 1st 2007)] ] , mostly from the countries of the European Union. There are however, additional troops from other European countries and from Chile and Turkey.

EUFOR's commander is currently Major General Ignacio Martin Villalain, since 4 December 2007. [http://www.consilium.europa.eu/cms3_fo/showPage.asp?id=745&lang=en&mode=g EUFOR change of command ceremony] For this mission, the European Union Military Staff is using NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) as the EU's Operational Headquarters (OHQ) and is working through the Deputy to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, a European officer.

The EUFOR assumed all the missions of the SFOR, except for the hunt for individuals indicted by the war criminals tribunual, notably Radovan Karadžić, former leader of Republika Srpska, and Ratko Mladić, their former military leader, which remained a mission for NATO [BBC, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3944191.stm EU troops prepare for Bosnia swap] ] through [http://www.afsouth.nato.int/NHQSA/index.htm NATO Headquarters Sarajevo] . The EUFOR does have police duties against organised crime, which is believed to be linked to suspected war criminals. [Michael Evans, [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1379415,00.html EU force to take on pimps, drug barons and smugglers] , "The Times", 29 November 2004, accessed 13 January 2007] It works with the European Union Police Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUPM) and with the Bosnian Police.

On the 28 February 2007 the European Union announced that the force would be cut in size to about 2,500 troops over the next few months. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6405791.stm EU to cut troop numbers in Bosnia] ]

As of 11 June 2008 the total force of EUFOR are at 2,173 troops from 28 nations. [ [http://www.euforbih.org/eufor/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=145&Itemid=62 EUFOR BiH - Troop Strength ] ]

Commanders

*British Major General David Leakey 2 December 2004 - 6 December 2005
*Italian Major General Gian Marco Chiarini 6 December 2005 - 5 December 2006
*German Rear Admiral Hans-Jochen Witthauer 5 December 2006 - 4 December 2007
*Spanish Major General Ignacio Martin Villalain 4 December 2007 - Future

References

ee also

*Military of the European Union
*European Union rapid reaction mechanism
*European Security and Defence Policy

External links

* [http://www.euforbih.org/ Official EUFOR website]
* [http://www.consilium.europa.eu/cms3_fo/showPage.asp?id=745&lang=en&mode=g The Council of the European Union's page on EUFOR-Althea]
* [http://www.eusrbih.org/ The European Union Special Representative (EUSR) for Bosnia and Herzegovina]
* [http://www.delbih.ec.europa.eu/ the European Commission's Delegation to Bosnia & Herzegovina ]
* [http://www.european-defence.co.uk/directory-althea.html European Defense]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3944191.stm BBC article on EUFOR]
* [http://www.vbs-ddps.ch/internet/groupgst/fr/home/peace/peace/laufende/eufor/medieninformationen.html Swiss Military Department EUFOR page (in French)]
* [http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0%402-3214,36-389160,0.html Le Monde (in French)]
* [http://findingkaradzic.blogspot.com/ Weblog "Finding Karadžić"]