EU mission stays in Bosnia; handover prep to Bosnian army starts

Brussels - The European Union's military mission in Bosnia (ALTHEA) is to start planning how to hand over responsibilities to the local army, the bloc's foreign ministers decided on Monday. However, the 2,000-strong ALTHEA mission is set to stay in place until the closure of the Office of the High Representative (OHR), an official nominated by the international community to oversee the 1995 Dayton Peace agreement.

"The Council (of EU ministers) expressed the readiness of the EU, should the situation require, to maintain an executive military role (...) beyond 2010, under a UN mandate," read an official statement released.

But at the same time, EU soldiers are due to "start providing non- executive capacity-building and training support" to the Bosnian army, as soon as "necessary arrangements" are put into place within the ALTHEA mission.

The closure of the OHR is seen as a crucial step to end the international protectorate that was imposed on Bosnia after the 1992- 1995 civil war, which left more than 100,000 dead.

But the decision - which is a precondition to move closer to EU accession - has been delayed since 2006 on account of lingering tensions between the Serbian, Muslim and Croat politicians who rule the country.

EU foreign ministers, who met on Monday in Brussels, urged "all parties" in Bosnia to respect "all decisions" taken by the current head of the OHR, Austrian diplomat Valentin Inzko, "and not to seek to challenge his authority."

According to diplomats, the warning was particularly targeted against the Bosnian-Serb leader Milorad Dodik, who threatens to hold a referendum to increase the veto powers of his ethnic province, thwarting attempts to reform Bosnia's dysfunctional federal system of government.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/305675,eu-mission-stays-in-bosnia-handover-prep-to-bosnian-army-starts.html.