US Pulling out Troops from Bosnia and Herzegovina

[ECH1969]

USA military forces started preparing for their pullout of the Eagle base near Tuzla, Serbian agency TANJUG informs citing Bosnian newspaper Oslobojdenje.

The news of the pullout of the American troops has caused concern among Sarajevo political circles.

Citing reliable sources the Bosnian newspaper announced the Americans will leave the base by the end of the year as they will be replaced by a Dutch battalion.

http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n94959

[Javaman]

1. Then on to Iran. nt

[Monkeyman]

2. Yep the bull has started remember tonight is the UN deadline

[Javaman]

3. Ahhh yes, slipped my mind. Thanks for reminding me...

should be an interesting rest of the week.

The friday night news dump should be amusing.

[tocqueville]

4. concerned ?

EUFOR = 7000
US = 700

[atreides1]

5. Hell of a choice

"...they will be replaced by a Dutch battalion."

Like the Dutch did such a good job the last time???

[tocqueville]

6. it's a completely different situation

it's a chapter VII mission, unlike the previous one (not that I want to defend the Dutch)


EU military operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Operation
On 2 December 2004 the European Union launched a military operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) - (EUFOR – Operation ALTHEA). This followed the decision by NATO to conclude its SFOR mission.

Forces
The EU deploys a robust military force (EUFOR) - at the same force levels as SFOR (7,000 troops) - with a Chapter VII mission to ensure continued compliance with the Dayton/Paris Agreement and to contribute to a safe and secure environment in BiH.

Mission
The key objectives of ALTHEA are:
- To provide deterrence and continued compliance with the responsibility to fulfil the role specified in Annexes 1A and 2 of the Dayton/Paris Agreement (General Framework Agreement for Peace in BiH); and
- To contribute to a safe and secure environment in BiH, in line with its mandate, and to achieve core tasks in the OHR’s Mission Implementation Plan and the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP).

Supporting tasks
The key supporting tasks of the EU-led force are to: provide support to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and relevant authorities, including the detention of PIFWCs, and provide the security environment in which the police can act against the organised criminal network.

Integrated European approach
The EU operation will be part of a coherent EU approach. It will add in a significant way to the EU’s political engagement, its assistance programmes (its ongoing police and monitoring missions) with a view to helping BiH make further progress towards European integration in the context of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

http://www.euforbih.org/index.html

[atreides1]

7. It is different

Because this time the people of the area won't have to just depend on the Dutch, at least other EU military personnel will be close by, just in case.

[tocqueville]

8. today it's mostly a question of chasing war criminals,

avoiding personal revenges by policing the area, clamping down on organised crime. If you look at the page
http://www.euforbih.org/press/press.htm you get an idea of what's going on.

[Igel]

9. Oslobodjenje. n/t

[dipsydoodle]

10. Not sure why it's still occupied anyway

it's a holiday resort now same as it used to be. See randon example here : http://www.regent-holidays.co.uk/bosnia.html

I'm sick of seeing adverts for holidays there on CNN International too.