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EU military operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina - ALTHEA

The operation:

• The EU has decided to launch a military operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) - (Operation EUFOR - ALTHEA). This decision follows the decision by NATO to conclude its SFOR mission. Date of Transfer of Authority / launch of the EU Operation: 2 December 2004.
  
  
• The EU will deploy a robust force (EUFOR) - starting at the same force levels as SFOR (7,000 troops) - with a Chapter VII mission to ensure continued compliance with the Dayton/Paris Agreement and to contribute to a safe and secure environment in BiH.
  
  
• The key objectives of ALTHEA are:
  
  - to provide deterrence, continued compliance with the responsibility to fulfil the role specified in Annexes 1A and 2 of the Dayton/Paris Agreement (General Framework Agreement for Peace in BiH); and
  
  - to contribute to a safe and secure environment in BiH, in line with its mandate, required to achieve core tasks in the OHR's Mission Implementation Plan and the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP).
  
  
• The EU operation will be part of a coherent EU approach. It will add in a significant way to the EU's political engagement, its assistance programmes and its ongoing police and monitoring missions with a view to helping BiH make further progress towards European integration in the context of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
  
  
• United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1575, adopted unanimously on 22 November 2004, welcomed the EU's intention to launch an EU military operation in BiH. It authorised the Member States acting through or in cooperation with the EU to establish a multinational stabilisation force (EUFOR) as a legal successor to SFOR under unified command an control, which will fulfil its missions in relation to the implementation of Annex 1-A and Annex 2 of the Dayton/Paris Agreement. EUFOR will have the main peace stabilisation role under the military aspects of the Peace Agreement.
  
  
• The Resolution also welcomed in the light of the forthcoming EU mission the EU's increasing engagement in BiH.
  
  
• UNSC Resolution 1551, adopted unanimously on 9 July 2004, had welcomed the EU's intention to launch such a mission.
  
  
• The decision by the EU to launch ALTHEA follows the decision by NATO to conclude its successful SFOR-operation.
  
  
• ALTHEA will be carried out with recourse to NATO assets and capabilities, on the basis agreed with NATO ("Berlin Plus").
  
  
• The Headquarters of EUFOR will be established in Sarajevo (Camp Butmir).
  
  
• Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) and Host Nation Support (HNS) arrangements will be established.
  
  
• As initially part of EUFOR an Integrated Police Unit (IPU) style capability will have executive powers, derived from the EUFOR mandate.
  
  
• One of the key supporting tasks of the EU-led force will be to provide support to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and relevant authorities, including the detention of PIFWCs.

EU Political Objectives:

• A strong commitment of the international community remains necessary in BiH to help building a secure, self-sustaining and democratic country. The June 2003 Thessaloniki Declaration confirmed that the future of the Western Balkans is within the EU. The Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) is the framework for the European course of BiH, all the way to future accession. It is within this wider context of European integration that a comprehensive policy for addressing BiH's security needs has to be situated.
  
  (1) Long Term Objective. A stable, viable, peaceful and multiethnic BiH, co-operating peacefully with its neighbours and irreversibly on track towards EU membership.
  
  (2) Medium Term Objective. Supporting BiH's progress towards EU integration by its own efforts, by contributing to a safe and secure environment with the objective of signing the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA). This complements the HR/EU Special Representative's (EUSR) Mission Implementation Plan (MIP) and the end of the EU's executive role in peace implementation, including through gradual transfer of ownership to BiH authorities.
  
  (3) Short Term objectives. To ensure a seamless transition from SFOR to the EU Force (EUFOR) in order to help maintain a secure environment for the implementation of the Dayton/Paris Peace Agreement, as highlighted in the MIP, and the strengthening of local capacity building through support of the BiH authorities in implementing the conditions in the SAP feasibility study, to make sure that the SAP and the implementation of the MIP reinforce one another.

Chain of command and main actors:

• The basic decisions on the operation are taken by the Council of The European Union. The Council decided to launch of the operation following its approval of the Operation Plan (OPLAN) and the Rules of Engagement (RoE).
  
  
• The EU's Political and Security Committee (PSC) will exercise the political control and strategic direction of the operation, under the responsibility of the Council. Powers of decision with respect to the objectives and termination of the military operation will remain vested in the Council, assisted by the SG/HR.
  
  
• The EU Military Committee (EUMC) will monitor the proper execution of the EU military operation.
  
  
• General John REITH (UK), Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (D-SACEUR), has been appointed EU Operation Commander (OpCdr) for ALTHEA with the EU Operation Headquarters (OHQ) located at SHAPE.

Major General A. David LEAKEY (UK) has been appointed EU Force Commander.

Overall EU coherence:

• The operation will reinforce the EU's comprehensive approach towards BiH, and support BiH's progress towards EU integration by its own efforts.
  
  
• The operation will be part of the overall European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) mission in BiH and of a closely co-ordinated EU presence in BiH.
  
  
• The EUSR will promote overall EU political co-ordination in BiH. EU Commanders will co-ordinate closely with the EUSR in BiH with a view to ensuring consistency of the EU military operation with the broader context of the EU activities in BiH.

Budget:

• Common costs of the EU military operation to be administered by the "ATHENA" mechanism (contributions by Member States on a GDP-based key). Financial reference amount for the common costs of the operation: € 71.7 million. (Personnel and other items are on a "costs lie where they fall" basis.)

Participation:

• Member States and non-EU Troop Contributing Nations (TCN) will provide the necessary capabilities. In addition to twenty-two EU Member States, the following third countries will participate in the Althea Operation: Albania, Argentina, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Switzerland, Turkey.

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• EUHR Solana comments on the Launch of the EU 'ALTHEA' operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2/12/2004)