20 October 2009 – A subcommittee of the Defence Committee of the European Security and Defence Assembly (ESDA) went on a fact-finding mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina from 7 to 9 October 2009 in the framework of a report on EU operations. The delegation was made up of the Chairman of the Committee, Doug HENDERSON MP (Socialist Group, United Kingdom) and Rapporteurs Ine AASTED-MADSEN (Federated Group, the Netherlands) and René ROUQUET (Socialist Group, France).

Members of the delegation met the High Representative and EU Special Representative, Mr Valentin INZKO, EUFOR Commander, General Stefano CASTAGNOTTO, Ambassadors of the United Kingdom and France, HE Michael TATHAM and HE Maryse BERNIAU, the Commander of the EU Police Mission, General Stefan FELLER, the Defence Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr Selmo CIKOTIC, and OSCE representatives. The delegation also went to Banja Luka, the country’s second city and capital of Republika Srpska, to meet a EUFOR Liaison and Observation Team (LOT).

As a result of these meetings with representatives of the international community and Bosnia, the delegation was able to make an in-depth assessment of the current situation in the country and noted that there were many obstacles still to overcome and no straightforward solutions.

Operation EUFOR ALTHEA today numbers some 2 000 personnel, including a detachment of the European Gendarmerie Force and an Integrated Police Unit (IPU) that can be deployed to assist the Bosnian police maintain public order. The IPU actually carried out a civil disturbance exercise during the delegation’s visit.

The main objectives of operation ALTHEA are:
1. To maintain a climate of security in Bosnia and Herzegovina and ensure that the Dayton Peace Accords continue to be observed (General Framework for Peace);
2. To support the High Representative of the international community and European Union Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the local authorities.

While the majority of the people the delegation met with agreed that the international presence was still necessary, they felt that the current situation was far from satisfactory and that reforms were essential.

Fourteen years after the Dayton Accords were signed, it is clear that the aim of these agreements was to find an immediate solution to the conflict that would put an end to the fighting. It is also clear that that solution raises a number of problems in the long term, as can be seen in particular by the complexity of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina. If we add the governments of the Entities to the governments of the cantons of the Federation, Bosnia and Herzegovina has 14 governments and some 180 ministers. Constitutional reform is required as a matter of urgency, with the creation of a structure of government that would facilitate the decision-making process at the same time as being sufficiently flexible to allow the different ethnic communities to develop relations of trust with the national government. Such a reform has to come from the Bosnians themselves and not be imposed by the international community.

The first issue that needs to be resolved is that of the role of the High Representative. In November, the international community through the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) is to rule on the need for a High Representative with full powers (the “Bonn powers”) in a state that has to learn to deal with its own problems. In a way, keeping this post would be tantamount to admitting that the reform process had failed and confirming the need for international tutelage. Given that the post of High Representative has been merged with that of the EU Special Representative since 2003, one possible solution would be to close the office of the High Representative and strengthen that of the EU Special Representative.

The other question to be resolved in November is that of the presence of EUFOR. Today four different opinions prevail:

1. Maintain the status quo – in other words prolong the presence of the High Representative (with the Bonn powers) and of EUFOR, which would perpetuate a policy whereby the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina remain weak and make it necessary to maintain the EUFOR presence at current levels;
2. Review and reduce EUFOR’s size, keeping the same mandate but providing for increased use of NATO-KFOR reinforcements (Over the Horizon forces);
3. Transform the current mission into a “non-executive” mission, focusing on training and capacity building, in conjunction with increased collaboration with NATO;
4. Wind up the EUFOR ALTHEA mission and plan for troop withdrawal within six months.

Many of the people the delegation met with favoured the third option which would see the size of the deployed force reduced by up to 80%, leaving some 200 troops in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The mission would have a two-year mandate and would be tasked with providing training and support for mine-clearance operations and the destruction of weapons and munitions.

The PIC is to make a decision on 18 or 19 November next and a new UN Security Council resolution is expected on 21 November.