With the veto of the Russian Federation, after 18 years of stay on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), EUFOR troops would have to withdraw. NATO announced that in that case they would deploy their own. Although it would look similar, the views of many are that it would bring radical changes. With the knowledge of these changes, some expect that the Russian Federation could react differently and decide to leave the Althea peacekeeping mission in BiH until the Security Council session.
EUFOR’s Althea peacekeeping mission in BiH expires in November. Many here, as well as the participating countries, fear the scenario that the Russian Federation will veto its extension in the United Nations (UN) Security Council. The Minister of Defense of our country, Sifet Podzic, hopes that this will not happen, but says that even in that case, NATO has a solution.
Podzic on the continuation of the ‘Althea’ mission: Strong messages from key people in NATO are encouraging
The Minister of Defense of BiH, Sifet Podzic, said yesterdaythat BiH is facing another important decision at the end of this year, which relates to the continuation of the EUFOR/Althea mission. – We hope that the permanent members of the UN Security Council will not use the veto and that the Althea mission will be.
One veto is enough to force the peacekeeping mission to withdraw. Due to the current security situation in Europe, the Western Balkans is in the focus of Western countries, as well as Russia. Alija Kozljak, former military representative of BiH to NATO, also says that a potential Russian veto would initially harm them.
“It is obvious that the interests of the great powers are certainly intertwined in this area and that the Russian Federation tried to use this as a fertile ground for the expansion of its interests. What they announced – that they will block the decision of the UN Security Council on the extension of the mandate – is something that will harm the Russian Federation in the long term, but will have an extraordinary impact in the region as well,” Kozljak pointed out.
Kozljak also says that Milorad Dodik could use his visit to Russia to explain to him why the presence of Althea mission is useful – of course, for his own interests.
“Due to the fact that according to the policy he leads, the deployment of NATO forces is a worse option. The arrival of NATO forces is not only troops on the ground – it is also political assistance in the Euro-Atlantic processes. Therefore, NATO will certainly find mechanisms to remove obstacles on BiH’s Euro-Atlantic path and thus respond in the long term,” Kozljak explained, Federalna reports.
E.Dz.
