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.<ref name="background"/> 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.<ref name="bbc-bih-swap">Template:Cite news</ref> 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<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> of Romania. 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<ref name="bbc-bih-swap"/> through NATO Headquarters Sarajevo.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> EUFOR does have police duties against organised crime, which is believed to be linked to suspected war criminals.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.

Template:As of, 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).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On 18 December 2020, the United Kingdom marked the end of its 16-year contribution to EUFOR, following Brexit.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Contributing states

List of countries EUFOR Althea:<ref name="background">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Country	EU	NATO	Strength
Template:Flag<ref>Albania sends troops to EU’s peacekeeping mission in Bosnia, retrieved 04 February 2025.</ref>	Template:No	Template:Yes	30
Template:Flag<ref>Einsatzzahlen österreichischen Streitkräfte, retrieved 28 March 2018.</ref>	Template:Yes	Template:No	221
Template:Flag	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	1
Template:Flag<ref>Einsatzzahlen bulgarische Streitkräfte, retrieved 14 March 2017.</ref>	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	10
Template:Flag<ref>Einsatzzahlen chilenische Streitkräfte, retrieved 28 September 2016.</ref>	Template:No	Template:No	15
Template:Flag<ref>https://www.idnes.cz/zpravy/zahranicni/bosna-a-hercegovina-vojenska-mise-eufor-cesko-rumunsko-italie-milorad-dodik.A250312_095918_zahranicni_kha</ref>	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	150
Template:Flag<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	250
Template:Flag<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	50
Template:Flag<ref>Einsatzzahlen griechische Streitkräfte, retrieved 28 September 2016.</ref>	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	2
Template:Flag<ref>Einsatzzahlen ungarische Streitkräfte, retrieved 14 March 2017.</ref>	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	30
Template:Flag<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Yes	Template:No	7
Template:Flag<ref>Einsatzzahlen italienische Streitkräfte, retrieved 28 September 2016.</ref>	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	4
Template:Flag<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	160
Template:Flag<ref>http://www.euforbih.org/eufor/index.php/eufor-news/latest-news/2071-visit-to-eufor-by-minister-of-defence-of-former-yugoslav-republic-of-macedonia-fyrom Einsatzzahlen mazedonische Streitkräfte</ref>	Template:No	Template:Yes	3
Template:Flag<ref>Einsatzzahlen polnische Streitkräfte, retrieved 28 September 2016.</ref>	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	39
Template:Flag	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	1
Template:Flag<ref>Template:Webarchive, retrieved 28 September 2016.</ref>	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	39
Template:Flag<ref>Einsatzzahlen slowakische Streitkräfte, retrieved 14 March 2017.</ref>	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	40
Template:Flag<ref>Einsatzzahlen slowenische Streitkräfte, retrieved 28 September 2016.</ref>	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	9
Template:Flag<ref>Einsatzzahlen spanische Streitkräfte, retrieved 14 March 2017.</ref>	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	4
Template:Flag	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	2
Template:Flag<ref>Template:Webarchive, Swiss Peace Support, retrieved 28 September 2016.</ref>	Template:No	Template:No	26
Template:Flag<ref>Einsatzzahlen türkische Streitkräfte, retrieved 28 March 2018.</ref>	Template:No	Template:Yes	150
22	16	17	1,066

Withdrawn
Country	EU	NATO	Year of withdrawal
Template:Flag	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	2012
Template:Flag	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	2018<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	2013
Template:Flag<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:No	Template:Yes	2020<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Commanders

No.	State	Rank	Name	Tenure
1	REDIRECT Template:GBR	Major general	David Leakey	2 December 2004 – 6 December 2005
2	{{#invoke:flag	Italy}}	Major general	Gian Marco Chiarini	6 December 2005 – 5 December 2006
3	Template:GER	Rear admiral	Hans-Jochen Witthauer	5 December 2006 – 4 December 2007
4	{{#invoke:flag	Spain}}	Major general	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	4 December 2007 – 4 December 2008
5	{{#invoke:flag	Italy}}	Major general	Stefano Castagnotto	4 December 2008 – 3 December 2009
6	{{#invoke:flag	Austria}}	Major general	Bernhard Bair	4 December 2009 – 6 December 2011
7	{{#invoke:flag	Austria}}	Major general	Robert Brieger	6 December 2011 – 3 December 2012
8	{{#invoke:flag	Austria}}	Major general	Dieter Heidecker	3 December 2012 – 17 December 2014
9	{{#invoke:flag	Austria}}	Major general	Johann Luif	17 December 2014 – 24 March 2016
10	{{#invoke:flag	Austria}}	Major general	Friedrich Schrötter	24 March 2016 – 28 March 2017
11	{{#invoke:flag	Austria}}	Major general	Anton Waldner	28 March 2017 – 28 March 2018
12	{{#invoke:flag	Austria}}	Major general	Martin Dorfer	28 March 2018 – 26 June 2019
13	{{#invoke:flag	Austria}}	Major general	Reinhard Trischak	26 June 2019 – 14 January 2021
14	{{#invoke:flag	Austria}}	Major general	Alexander Platzer	14 January 2021 – 20 January 2022
15	{{#invoke:flag	Austria}}	Major general	Anton Wessely	20 January 2022 – 18 January 2023
16	{{#invoke:flag	Austria}}	Major general	Helmut Habermayer	18 January 2023 – 22 January 2024
17	{{#invoke:flag	}}	Major general	László Sticz	22 January 2024 – 21 January 2025
18	{{#invoke:flag	}}	Major general	Florin-Marian Barbu	21 January 2025 – 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

References

Further reading

• Le Monde (in French)
• EU military operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Operation EUFOR ALTHEA)
• Dominik Tolksdorf The Difficulties of the European Union in Supporting the Europeanization of Bosnia and HerzegovinaTemplate:Dead link EU Frontier Policy Paper, Budapest: Center for EU Enlargement Studies – Central European University, 2011

External links

• Official EUFOR website
• The Council of the European Union's page on EUFOR-Althea Template:Webarchive
• The European Union Special Representative (EUSR) for Bosnia and Herzegovina Template:Webarchive
• the European Commission's Delegation to Bosnia & Herzegovina
• Swiss Military Department EUFOR page (in French)