The Embassy of the United States of America in Bosnia and Herzegovina published a video of the arrival of US military forces and NATO allies in B&H.
NATO marked yesterday the 20th anniversary of the beginning of the first peacekeeping mission of the Alliance, the Implementation Force (IFOR), which was sent to B&H on December 20, 1995 after successfully agreed Dayton Peace Agreement.
The Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg earlier said that the dedication of NATO to the stable and safe B&H was included in the Dayton Peace Agreement 20 years ago and that it had not been questioned until today.
“We came to ensure peace upon the termination of a terrifying conflict. Today, B&H is a very different place – peaceful, stable, and moving towards better future on the path towards the Euro-Atlantic integration,” Stoltenberg said.
The IFOR mission started upon the termination of the war in B&H on November 21, 2015, when a peace agreement was made in the US air base in Dayton, Ohio. One month later, on December 20, 1995, the IFOR soldiers were deployed across B&H to ensure compliance with the agreement.
That was the first NATO ground operation outside of the territory of Alliance member countries. At its peak, IFOR had around 60,000 soldiers from allied and partner countries, including Russia. IFOR was operating in accordance with the Chapter VII of the UN Charter.
In December 1996, IFOR was substituted with NATO’s Stabilization Force (SFOR), which were smaller and had different authorizations. Then in 2004 the European Union took over the stabilization role and B&H became a NATO partner in 2006.
The video can be seen here.
(Source: klix.ba)
