Operation Althea

 ( International Law Enforcement Organizations ) 

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.

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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 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 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.

, 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).

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 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.

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Contributing states List of countries EUFOR Althea:

Albania sends troops to EU’s peacekeeping mission in Bosnia, retrieved 04 February 2025.			30
Einsatzzahlen österreichischen Streitkräfte, retrieved 28 March 2018.			292
			1
Einsatzzahlen bulgarische Streitkräfte, retrieved 14 March 2017.			10
Einsatzzahlen chilenische Streitkräfte, retrieved 28 September 2016.			15
/ref>			150
			250
			50
Einsatzzahlen griechische Streitkräfte, retrieved 28 September 2016.			2
Einsatzzahlen ungarische Streitkräfte, retrieved 14 March 2017.			30
			7
Einsatzzahlen italienische Streitkräfte, retrieved 28 September 2016.			4
			160
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			3
Einsatzzahlen polnische Streitkräfte, retrieved 28 September 2016.			39
			1
, retrieved 28 September 2016.			39
Einsatzzahlen slowakische Streitkräfte, retrieved 14 March 2017.			40
Einsatzzahlen slowenische Streitkräfte, retrieved 28 September 2016.			9
Einsatzzahlen spanische Streitkräfte, retrieved 14 March 2017.			4
			2
, Swiss Peace Support, retrieved 28 September 2016.			26
Einsatzzahlen türkische Streitkräfte, retrieved 28 March 2018.			150

			2012
			2018
			2013
			2020

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Commanders

1		Major general	David Leakey	2 December 2004 – 6 December 2005
2		Major general	Gian Marco Chiarini	6 December 2005 – 5 December 2006
3		Rear admiral	Hans-Jochen Witthauer	5 December 2006 – 4 December 2007
4		Major general	Ignacio Martín Villalaín	4 December 2007 – 4 December 2008
5		Major general	Stefano Castagnotto	4 December 2008 – 3 December 2009
6		Major general	Bernhard Bair	4 December 2009 – 6 December 2011
7		Major general	Robert Brieger	6 December 2011 – 3 December 2012
8		Major general	Dieter Heidecker	3 December 2012 – 17 December 2014
9		Major general	Johann Luif	17 December 2014 – 24 March 2016
10		Major general	Friedrich Schrötter	24 March 2016 – 28 March 2017
11		Major general	Anton Waldner	28 March 2017 – 28 March 2018
12		Major general	Martin Dorfer	28 March 2018 – 26 June 2019
13		Major general	Reinhard Trischak	26 June 2019 – 14 January 2021
14		Major general	Alexander Platzer	14 January 2021 – 20 January 2022
15		Major general	Anton Wessely	20 January 2022 – 18 January 2023
16		Major general	Helmut Habermayer	18 January 2023 – 22 January 2024
17		Major general	László Sticz	22 January 2024 – 21 January 2025
18		Major general	Florin-Marian Barbu	21 January 2025 – present

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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

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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 Herzegovina EU Frontier Policy Paper, Budapest: Center for EU Enlargement Studies – Central European University, 2011

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External links

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

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