The European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), according to the 2003 agreement, can deploy an additional number of soldiers in Bosnia and Herzegovina at any time in the short term in case of a threat to the security of this country.
These military forces, according to United Nations resolutions, have an executive mandate that includes the use of force, especially to defend themselves against attack or the threat of attack.
The issue of the scope of NATO's jurisdiction in BiH was brought to light by the latest statement by Christian Schmidt, the High Representative, who, in his analysis of possible complications of the situation in the country, underlined:
"It should be clear that, if things get complicated, the European Union, EUFOR and NATO, through the 'Berlin Plus' mechanism, can increase their presence in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I don't see the need for that at this point, but I think we have to be aware of the situation," Schmidt reminded Voice of America in a statement on November 23.
Schmidt emphasized that "the Army of Republika Srpska will not be formed."
He pointed out that his interlocutors in both Washington and Brussels told him that the international community, including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, "will not quietly watch" as Milorad Dodik, a member of the BiH Presidency and president of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), the ruling party in the entity of Republika Srpska (RS), questions the survival of the Armed Forces of BiH and at the same time announces that he will form an RS army.
Additional forces on standby
The EUFOR Altea mission is being implemented in the field using NATO assets and capabilities, based on an agreement with NATO known as "Berlin Plus".
The first mission established under this agreement was “Operation EUFOR Concordia” in North Macedonia, formed in March 2003 to monitor the implementation of the Ohrid Agreement. Already in December of that year, the military mission was replaced by a police mission.
The following year, the EUFOR Altea mission was established for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since then, the EU has established around thirty civilian and military missions around the world.
Numerous details of the "Berlin Plus" agreement between NATO and the EU are classified as classified.
What is known is that the exchange of confidential information is ensured between EU and NATO institutions. NATO funds are available for EU-led civil-military operations. There are also regular consultations on operations.
Various NATO units may be called upon to support EUFOR troops on the ground, and EU-led military operations are included in NATO's defense planning.
According to this agreement, the member states of the European Union and NATO also have reserve forces for the EUFOR Altea Mission outside Bosnia and Herzegovina, and they are deployed throughout Europe (Over-the-Horizon Reserve Forces). These "reserve forces" can be called upon at any time to deploy at short notice to increase the number of EUFOR soldiers in the event of a threat to the secure environment.
This ensures that EUFOR has the capacity to intervene quickly in support of law enforcement agencies in BiH.
Accordingly, every year EUFOR, NATO and the Armed Forces of BiH conduct exercises called "Rapid Response" to practice and demonstrate EUFOR's ability to bring reserve forces into the country to assist the BiH authorities in maintaining a secure and stable environment.
Crisis management
NATO remains the foundation of the collective defense of its member states in accordance with Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, according to which an armed attack against one or more NATO members shall be considered an attack against all.
The European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP), through an agreement with NATO, has added to the range of instruments already available to the European Union the capacity to "independently conduct crisis management operations", as formally stated in European legislation.
The agreement also defines the organizational structure and the method of decision-making.
The operational headquarters of Operation EUFOR Altea for BiH, as well as for other current and future EU missions, is located at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), a NATO military command located near the Belgian capital, Brussels.
A military office called the EU Command Element was also established and is located at the NATO base in Naples, Italy, within the Joint Force Command (JFC Naples).
The task of this office is to “coordinate NATO-EU reserve forces” and “provide information on the Western Balkans to the operational commander in SHAPE”.
The operational commander works with the European Joint Affairs Service (EEAS) as the "Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the EU", the European Union Military Committee (EUMC) which consists of the commanders-in-chief of the armies of the EU member states, and the European Union Military Staff (EUMS) which is a special EEAS directorate composed of military and civilian experts from EU member states.
Political control and strategic guidance are in the hands of the EU's Political and Security Committee, which operates at the level of ambassadors of EU member states. This committee, in turn, reports to the Council of the European Union, which consists of ministers of EU member states, in this case defense ministers.
French Lieutenant General Brice Houdet was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff of the Allied Forces Europe and Operational Commander of Operation EUFOR Altea in mid-July 2020. In addition to the Foreign Legion, Houdet has served in Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Kosovo, and Africa.
In BiH, the mission commanders on the ground came from Austria, a non-NATO member state. Since January 2021, the position has been held by Austrian Major General Aleksandar Plac.
The last line of defense
The United Nations Security Council, unanimously and with the support of Russia and China, on November 3, 2021, extended the one-year executive mandate of the European Union military mission EUFOR Altea in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
There is currently a battalion of around 600 soldiers in BiH from 19 countries, 15 of which are European NATO members. The remaining four countries are North Macedonia, Chile, Switzerland and Austria.
EUFOR also has a mandate to use military force. However, EUFOR has repeatedly stated that the condition for this would be that "the secure and stable environment is seriously threatened, and the existing security structures are in danger of disintegrating."
As explained by one of the EUFOR commanders in BiH, Major General Reinhard Trisak, while state law enforcement agencies, police, and the Armed Forces of BiH can successfully carry out their tasks, "EUFOR must be the last resort to be applied."
Peacekeeping forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The EUFOR Altea mission is the EU's longest-running military operation, the only land mission, and the only mission with an executive mandate to use force.
It began in 2004 with a United Nations Security Council resolution that ended the NATO Stabilization Force (SFOR) operation called “Operation Joint Guard” which lasted from 1996 to 1998, and “Operation Joint Forge” which lasted from 1996 to 1998.
SFOR was the successor to the Implementation Forces (IFOR) mission, which lasted from the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement and the departure of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) in late 1995 until the end of 1996 under the name "Operation Joint Endeavour".
The official mandate of all foreign military missions in BiH is to ensure the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the war in BiH, and to "contribute to a secure environment."
The initial capacity of EUFOR in BiH was around 7.000 soldiers.
Operation Altea was reconfigured in 2012 and changed its focus to the non-executive part of the mandate, which includes capacity building and training of the Armed Forces of BiH.
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