SARAJEVO, Aug 16 (NNN-SRNA) – The first group of German soldiers arrived in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), yesterday, to join the European Union Force in BiH (EUFOR).
The German military contingent, consisting 50 soldiers, will arrive in several phases between mid-Aug and Oct 2, the date of the general elections in BiH.
The deployment of German soldiers will bring the total number of nations contributing to the EUFOR’s Althea mission to 20.
The German contingent will provide additional support in EUFOR’s headquarters, in Camp Butmir near Sarajevo, as well as, in the EUFOR’s network of 17 Liaison and Observation Team (LOT) houses. These LOT houses are dispersed across BiH and serve as EUFOR’s links to local communities and local authorities.
German forces took part in the EUFOR mission in Bosnia between 2004 and 2012. The new deployment was approved on Jul 8 by Bundestag, the German federal parliament, amid the German government’s growing concerns over the disturbed political stability in BiH.
The EUFOR ALTHEA in BiH is a military force of 1,100 troops, with a mission to ensure continued compliance with the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement, which put an end to the Bosnian War, that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995.
The mandate of the force is to support the BiH authorities, in maintaining a safe and secure environment in the Balkan country.– NNN-SRNA
