Operation Althea, formally the European Union Force Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUFOR), is a military deployment in
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
to oversee the military implementation of the
Dayton Agreement.
It is the successor to
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
'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.
It replaced SFOR on 2 December 2004.
General aspects
Civilian implementation of the Dayton Agreement is enforced by the
Office of the High Representative.
As of March 10, 2025, EUFOR's commander is
Major General Florin-Marian Barbu of
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
. 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.
EUFOR assumed all the missions of SFOR, except for the hunt for individuals indicted by the war crimes tribunal, notably
Radovan Karadžić, former leader of
Republika Srpska
Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, ; also referred to as the Republic of Srpska or Serb Republic) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other bein ...
, and
Ratko Mladić, 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 (EUPM) and with the
Bosnian Police. 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 approximately 1,000 troops from 22 countries, including EU member states and non-EU "Troop Contributing Countries" (TCC) are present within EUFOR (Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, North Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, and Turkey).
On 18 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, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Turkey.
* 19 LOT Houses located throughout BiH to connect EUFOR to local communities and authorities. Houses are located in Cazin, Banja Luka (Romania) and Banja Luka (Chile), Brčko, Doboj, Tuzla, Zavidovići, Travnik, Bratunac, Zenica, Vlasenica, Sarajevo, Livno, Jablanica, Višegrad, Foča, Mostar, Čapljina and Trebinje.
Contributing states
List of countries EUFOR Althea:
Commanders
See also
*
Military of the European Union
*
European Union rapid reaction mechanism
*
Common Security and Defence Policy
*
European Union Military Operation in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
References
Further reading
Le Monde (in French)EU military operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Operation EUFOR ALTHEA)
* 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 Herzegovina
the European Commission's Delegation to Bosnia & Herzegovina
{{DEFAULTSORT:Althea
International law enforcement organizations
Law enforcement in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Military ground operations of the European Union
Bosnia and Herzegovina–European Union relations
Foreign relations of the European Union
European Union security policy
Military of the European Union
Common Security and Defence Policy