Operation Althea
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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. 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. 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 January 2026, EUFOR's commander is Major General Maurizio Fronda of Italy. 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 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.
A total of 25 countries, including EU Member States and non-EU Troop Contributing Countries (TCC) are present within EUFOR. (Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Moldova, 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 Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Romania, Albania and Türkiye.
- 20 LOT Houses located throughout BiH to connect EUFOR to local communities and authorities. Houses are located in Cazin, Banja Luka (Romania) and Banja Luka (Slovenia), Brčko, Doboj, Drvar, Tuzla, Zavidovići, Travnik, Bratunac, Zenica, Vlasenica, Sarajevo, Livno, Jablanica, Višegrad, Foča, Mostar, Čapljina and Trebinje.
Contributing states
List of countries EUFOR Althea:
| Country | EU | NATO |
|---|---|---|
| Albania | No | Yes |
| Austria | Yes | No |
| Belgium | Yes | Yes |
| Bulgaria | Yes | Yes |
| Chile | No | No |
| Czech Republic | Yes | Yes |
| Denmark | Yes | Yes |
| France | Yes | Yes |
| Germany | Yes | Yes |
| Greece | Yes | Yes |
| Hungary | Yes | Yes |
| Ireland | Yes | No |
| Italy | Yes | Yes |
| Moldova | No | No |
| Netherlands | Yes | Yes |
| North Macedonia | No | Yes |
| Poland | Yes | Yes |
| Portugal | Yes | Yes |
| Romania | Yes | Yes |
| Slovakia | Yes | Yes |
| Slovenia | Yes | Yes |
| Spain | Yes | Yes |
| Sweden | Yes | Yes |
| Switzerland | No | No |
| Turkey | No | Yes |
| 25 | 19 | 20 |
| Withdrawn | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Country | EU | NATO | Year of withdrawal |
| Estonia | Yes | Yes | 2012 |
| Finland | Yes | Yes | 2018 |
| Luxembourg | Yes | Yes | 2013 |
| United Kingdom | No | Yes | 2020 |
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 | 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 – 22 January 2024 |
| 17 | Hungary | Major general | László Sticz | 22 January 2024 – 21 January 2025 |
| 18 | Romania | Major general | Florin-Marian Barbu | 21 January 2025 - 21 January 2026 |
| 19 | Italy | Major general | Maurizio Fronda | 21 January 2026 – present |
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
Further reading
- Dominik Tolksdorf [permanent dead link] EU Frontier Policy Paper, Budapest: Center for EU Enlargement Studies – Central European University, 2011
External links
- 2017-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
- 2008-12-29 at the Wayback Machine