Operation Althea

EUFOR / Operation Althea
operation area	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Based on UN resolution	1575 (November 22, 2004)
Other UN resolutions	1639 (November 21, 2005) 1722 (November 21, 2006) 1764 (June 29, 2007) 1785 (November 21, 2007) 1845 (November 20, 2008) 1869 (March 25, 2009) 1895 (November 18, 2009) 1948 (November 18, 2010) 2019 (November 16, 2011) 2074 (November 14, 2012) 2123 (November 12, 2013) 2183 (November 11, 2014) 2247 (November 10, 2015) 2315 (November 8, 2016) 2384 ( November 7, 2017) 2443 (November 6, 2018) 2496 (November 5, 2019)
Beginning	December 2, 2004
Military out	Albania Bulgaria Chile Greece Ireland Italy North Macedonia Austria Poland Romania Switzerland Slovakia Slovenia Spain Czech Republic Turkey Hungary United Kingdom
costs	€ 71.7 million
Location of the operational area
Map overview	Operation area

EUFOR Althea logo

Operation Althea is the name given to the military part of an EU mission within the framework of the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP) . The operation has been carried out in Bosnia and Herzegovina as the successor to the SFOR stabilization mission since 2004 .

history

At the NATO summit in Istanbul in June 2004, it was decided to end the multinational stabilization mission SFOR to support and monitor the implementation of the Dayton Agreement in Bosnia-Herzegovina at the end of 2004. On July 12, 2004, the Council of the European Union decided to send a military mission as an additional measure in addition to the political approaches, the aid programs and the police and observer mission .

On December 2, 2004, EUFOR began its largest mission to date with 6,300 soldiers. It thus had a staff level similar to that of SFOR. The EUFOR operational area was divided into three areas. The Multi-National Task Force (MNTF) North was stationed with around 1,300 soldiers in Tuzla , the MNTF North West with around 1,000 soldiers in Banja Luka and the MNTF South East with around 1,400 soldiers in Mostar . The EUFOR headquarters was set up in Camp Butmir , Sarajevo , together with a police unit, the Integrated Police Unit (IPU) , with around 500 members. In addition, around 2,000 soldiers were in Liaison and Observation Teams (LOT) in various Bosnian locations.

In February 2007, due to the improved security situation, the EUFOR forces were restructured and reduced to around 2,500 soldiers. The three MNTF were dissolved and on March 28, 2007 replaced by a battalion-strength unit , the Multinational Maneuver Battalion (MNBN), which is stationed with the IPU at Camp Butmir. The use battalion was made up of four infantry companies and one reconnaissance train formed. The liaison and observation groups were retained and supported by five Regional Coordination Centers (RCC) in Sarajevo, Tuzla , Banja Luka, Mostar and Zenica . If necessary, reinforcements by KFOR troops and reserve forces in Europe, the Over the Horizon Forces, were planned. The latter include up to four battalions from France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom.

assignment

Mission goal

The aim of Operation Althea is, in close coordination with the EUSR (European Union Special Representative), to use a military presence to contribute to a secure environment in which the Dayton Agreement can be implemented. Outbreaks of violence by the former conflict parties are to be prevented and national and international actors are to be put in a position to carry out their tasks. In addition, EUFOR has to contribute to the training of the Bosnian armed forces and to the expansion of their capacities.

In addition, EUFOR supports the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia , among other things in the arrest of suspected war criminals.

Legal basis

Operation Althea is a mission under Chapter VII of the UN Charter . EUFOR acts under the mandate of the United Nations Security Council , pursuant to Resolutions 1575 (2004) , 1639 (2005) , 1722 (2006) , 1785 (2007) , 1869 (2009) , 1895 (2009) , 1948 (2010) , 2019 ( 2011) , 2074 (2012) , 2123 (2013) and 2183 (2014) .

organization

guide

The Political and Security Committee (PSC) exercises political control and issues strategic guidelines in cooperation with the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina . The task of the EU Military Committee (EUMC) is to monitor the execution of the mission under the responsibility of the Operation Commander .

Close cooperation was agreed with NATO and, on the basis of the Berlin Plus Agreement, recourse to its forces and capabilities. The interlinking becomes clear through the deployment of NATO's Deputy Commander in Chief, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR), as EU Operation Commander. At the same time, the NATO headquarters ( Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe - SHAPE) is the strategic operation headquarters established for Operation Althea .

Previous Operation Commander

No.	country	Rank	Surname	Period
1	United Kingdom	general	John Reith	2004-2007
2	United Kingdom	general	John McColl	2007-2011
3	United Kingdom	general	Richard Shirreff	2011-2014
4th	United Kingdom	general	Adrian Bradshaw	since 2014

The commander of the forces on the ground, the EU Force Commander (COM EUFOR), leads from the Force Headquarters at Camp Butmir, Sarajevo.

Previous COM EUFOR

No.	country	Rank	Surname	Period
1	United Kingdom	Major general	David Leakey	2004-2005
2	Italy	Major general	Gian Marco Chiarini	2005-2006
3	Germany	Rear admiral	Hans-Jochen Witthauer	2006-2007
4th	Spain	Major general	Ignacio Martín Villalaín	2007-2008
5	Italy	Major general	Stefano Castagnotto	2008-2009
6th	Austria	Major general	Bernhard Bair	2009-2011
7th	Austria	Major general	Robert Brieger	2011–2012
8th	Austria	Major general	Dieter Heidecker	2012-2014
9	Austria	Major general	Johann Luif	2014-2016
10	Austria	Major general	Friedrich Schrötter	2016-2017
11	Austria	Major general	Anton Waldner	2017-2018
12	Austria	Major general	Martin Dorfer	2018-2019
13	Austria	Major general	Reinhard Trischak	since 2019

Nations involved

About 630 soldiers (as of April 2018) from the following 18 nations (as of April 2018) are involved in Operation Althea. Of these, 13 countries are members of the EU and 13 countries are members of NATO .

country	EU	NATO	Strength
Austria			221
Turkey			150
Slovakia			40
Poland			39
Romania			39
Hungary			30th
Switzerland			26th
Chile			15th
Bulgaria			10
Slovenia			9
Ireland			7th
Italy			4th
Spain			4th
United Kingdom			4th
North Macedonia			3
Greece			2
Czech Republic			2
Albania			1

Contribution of the Bundeswehr

The German Bundestag approved the proposal of the Federal Government for participation of German armed forces at the EU-led operation Althea on 22 November of 2004. With their application of November 22, 2006, the personnel limit was reduced to 2,400 soldiers. This number includes 800 possible posts in the deployment contingent, 600 soldiers from a battalion of the Operational Reserve, 400 posts who can be in the deployment area at the same time when the contingent changes, and 600 soldiers in planning reserves.

The focus of German participation is currently on civil-military cooperation and the provision of air transport capacity.

A special feature was the first foreign base of BwFuhrparkService GmbH , which opened on March 10, 2006, in the Rajlovac field camp . The Rajlovac field camp has now been completely handed over to the Bosnian army and there are no longer any German soldiers stationed here. The BwFuhrparkService office is now located near Sarajevo International Airport .

On July 24, 2012 it was announced that an extension of the mandate and thus a German participation in Operation Althea beyond November 21, 2012 is not intended. Accordingly, the deployment of the Bundeswehr was ended on September 27, 2012 when the German flag was brought down for the last time in Camp Butmir. This ended the Bundeswehr's longest deployment abroad to date after 17 years.

In 2012, the German Federal Government saw the mission as Eufor Althea under the leadership of the EU as extremely successful. The police and military in Bosnia-Herzegovina could meanwhile ensure security themselves. Germany considered Eufor Althea's military tasks to be fulfilled at this point in time. For some time now, the federal government has wanted the EU to decide to end the mission entirely. However, there was no consensus on this within the European Union. At the time, the Bundeswehr had only provided 3 soldiers from the 1200-strong force at the time.

Nevertheless, the withdrawal of the Germans was viewed extremely critically by some allies. From diplomatic circles it was said at the time that it was not necessary to go it alone, but rather a new Bosnia strategy under the umbrella of the UN . The approach of withdrawing and thus urging that all other nations withdraw as well was viewed critically.

In summer 2012, a letter from the then Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle ( FDP ) and the then Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière ( CDU ) to the chairmen of the parliamentary groups became known. It said that an extension of the parliamentary mandate was not sought.

The Frankfurter Rundschau assessed the situation at that time as not yet absolutely peaceful: rivalries between the country's ethnic groups still existed. Political reforms, economic development and further rapprochement with the EU are still blocked in 2012.

literature

• Guide to history: Bosnia-Herzegovina. 2nd revised edition. On behalf of the Military History Research Office, ed. by Agilolf Keßelring. Paderborn, Munich, Vienna, Zurich, Ferdinand Schöningh 2007, 216 pages, ISBN 978-3-506-76428-7
• Dominik Tolksdorf: The EU and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Foreign policy in search of coherence , Baden-Baden 2012. ISBN 978-3-8329-7408-4

Web links

• Official website of the EUFOR mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina

Individual evidence

1. ↑ EUFOR Fact Sheet. EUFOR, accessed on December 10, 2009 (English): “The common costs of the operation are € 71.7 million. Personnel and other items are on a "costs lie where they fall" basis. " 
2. ↑ Mission figures of the Austrian armed forces , accessed on March 28, 2018
3. ↑ Mission figures of the Turkish armed forces , accessed on March 28, 2018
4. ↑ Deployment figures for the Slovak Armed Forces , accessed on March 14, 2017
5. ↑ Deployment figures for the Polish armed forces , accessed on September 28, 2016
6. ↑ Mission figures of the Romanian armed forces , accessed on September 28, 2016
7. ↑ Mission figures of the Hungarian armed forces , accessed on March 14, 2017
8. ↑ Deployment figures for the Swiss armed forces ( memento of the original from September 27, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Swiss Peace Support, accessed on September 28, 2016 
9. ↑ Mission figures of the Chilean armed forces , accessed on September 28, 2016
10. ↑ Mission figures for the Bulgarian Armed Forces , accessed on March 14, 2017
11. ↑ Operation figures of the Slovenian armed forces , accessed on September 28, 2016
12. ↑ Mission figures for the Irish Armed Forces , accessed March 14, 2017
13. ↑ Operational figures for the Italian armed forces , accessed on September 28, 2016
14. ↑ Mission figures of the Spanish armed forces , accessed on March 14, 2017
15. ↑ Operational figures for the United Kingdom Armed Forces , accessed March 14, 2017
16. ↑ Mission figures for the Macedonian Armed Forces , accessed on September 20, 2016
17. ↑ Mission figures for the Greek armed forces , accessed on September 28, 2016
18. ↑ Operation figures for the Czech Armed Forces , accessed on September 28, 2016
19. ↑ Mission figures for the Albanian Armed Forces , accessed on September 28, 2016
20. ↑ Bundestag printed paper 15/4245 of November 22, 2004 (PDF, 68kb)
21. ↑ Bundestag printed paper 16/2521 of November 22, 2006 (PDF, 60kb)
22. ^ Mitteldeutsche Zeitung: Balkan Bundeswehr withdraws from Bosnia-Herzegovina
23. ↑ Thomas Kolatzki / Nicole Josephine Griebel: Participation of the Bundeswehr in the operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina successfully ended - the German flag was brought down for the last time in Camp Butmir. einsatz.bundeswehr.de, September 27, 2012, accessed on October 5, 2012 . 
24. ↑ https://archiv.berliner-zeitung.de/politik/--6697096