Operation Althea

Operation Althea, formally the European Union Force Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUFOR), is a military deployment in Bosnia and Herzegovina to oversee the military implementation of the Dayton Agreement.[1] 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.[2] It replaced SFOR on 2 December 2004.

European Union Force Bosnia and Herzegovina
Military leader Major General Helmut Habermayer
Political leader European Union
Dates of operation2 December 2004 (2004-12-02) – present
Allegiance European Union
MotivesSuccessful implementation of the Dayton Agreement
Size1100 members
Battles and warsthe Dayton Agreement
ColoursBlue, white, and yellow

General aspects

Civilian implementation of the Dayton Agreement is enforced by the Office of the High Representative.

EUFOR's commander is Major General Helmut Habermayer of Austria (all of EUFOR's commanders since 2009 have been Austrians). 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, and Ratko Mladić, their former military leader, which remained a mission for NATO[2] through NATO Headquarters Sarajevo.[3] EUFOR does have police duties against organised crime, which is believed to be linked to suspected war criminals.[4] 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.

As of February 2023, 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).[5]

On 18 December 2020, the United Kingdom marked the end of its 16-year contribution to EUFOR, following Brexit.[6]

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.[7]

Commanders
No. State Rank Name Tenure
1  United Kingdom Major general David Leakey 2 December 2004 – 6 December 2005
2  Italy Major general Gian Marco Chiarini 6 December 2005 – 5 December 2006
3  Germany Rear admiral Hans-Jochen Witthauer 5 December 2006 – 4 December 2007
4  Spain Major general Ignacio Martín Villalaín[8] 4 December 2007 – 4 December 2008
5  Italy Major general Stefano Castagnotto 4 December 2008 – 3 December 2009
6  Austria Major general Bernhard Bair 4 December 2009 – 6 December 2011
7  Austria Major general Robert Brieger 6 December 2011 – 3 December 2012
8  Austria Major general Dieter Heidecker 3 December 2012 – 17 December 2014
9  Austria Major general Johann Luif 17 December 2014 – 24 March 2016
10  Austria Major general Friedrich Schrötter 24 March 2016 – 28 March 2017
11  Austria Major general Anton Waldner 28 March 2017 – 28 March 2018
12  Austria Major general Martin Dorfer 28 March 2018 – 26 June 2019
13  Austria Major general Reinhard Trischak 26 June 2019 – 14 January 2021
14  Austria Major general Alexander Platzer 14 January 2021 – 20 January 2022
15  Austria Major general Anton Wessely 20 January 2022 – 18 January 2023
16  Austria Major general Helmut Habermayer 18 January 2023 – present

See also

References
  1. Reuters
  2. "EU troops prepare for Bosnia swap". BBC. 23 October 2004.
  3. "Allied Joint Force Command Naples". Archived from the original on 2007-11-23. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
  4. Evans, Michael (29 November 2004). "EU force to take on pimps, drug barons and smugglers". The Times. Retrieved 13 January 2007.
  5. "EUFOR Fact Sheet – Countries of EUFOR". EUFOR. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
  6. "European Union Force in BiH – United Kingdom ends contribution to EU Mission". www.euforbih.org. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
  7. Accessed 29 April 2021 http://www.euforbih.org/index.php/eufor-elements/eufor-houses
  8. "EUFOR change of command ceremony". Archived from the original on 2017-09-28. Retrieved 2007-12-05.

Further reading
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