The United Nations Security Council last Wednesday renewed the mandate of the European Union military operation in Bosnia-Herzegovina for one year in order to continue overseeing the implementation of the peace treaty.

The EU will continue to guarantee a safe environment in Bosnia-Herzegovina for all its citizens and support the Balkan country, the head of EU foreign policy Giuseppe Borrell posted on Twitter, following the Security Council’s unanimous renewal of the European military force’s mandate for 12 months.

The mandate of the EU multinational military operation, or EUFOR Althea, was renewed until November 2023 by Security Council resolution 2658 (2022).

The European Union’s military operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, or Operation Althea, began in 2004, aiming to oversee security and the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement (1995), which ended more than three years of war between the Serbs, the Croats, and the Bosniaks.

The agreement created two entities that enjoy broad autonomy, the Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, populated by the Bosnian and Croatian ethnic groups, while also establishing various institutions that theoretically guarantee the smooth functioning of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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