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1 (December 5, 2006)

handle is hein.crs/crsmthaaeeg0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS21774 Updated December 5, 2006 CRS Report for Congress Bosnia and the European Union Military Force (EUFOR): Post-NATO Peacekeeping Julie Kim Specialist in International Relations Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division Summary On December 2, 2004, NATO formally concluded its Stabilization Force (SFOR) mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina and handed over peace stabilization duties to a European Union force (EUFOR). The mission of the EU's Operation Althea has been to ensure continued compliance with the 1995 Dayton peace agreement and contribute to a secure environment and Bosnia's efforts towards European integration. The EU recently postponed a decision to significantly reduce the 6,500-strong force until early 2007. NATO retains a small headquarters presence in Sarajevo to provide advice on defense reforms and to support counterterrorism efforts and the apprehension of wanted war crimes suspects believed to be hiding in or transiting through Bosnia. Eleven years after Dayton, many Members of Congress remain engaged and interested in Bosnia's prospects for sustainable peace and efforts to integrate into NATO and the EU; the 1 10th Congress is likely to maintain this interest. This report may be updated as events warrant. See also CRS Report RS22324, Bosnia: Overview of Current Issues, by Julie Kim. SFOR Background and U.S. Policy The 1995 Dayton peace agreement ended a 3 -year war that pitted Bosnia's Muslim, Croat, and Serb communities against one another. NATO first deployed an Implementation Force (IFOR) of nearly 60,000 troops to Bosnia to enforce compliance with the military aspects of the Dayton accords. Although IFOR successfully carried out the military tasks outlined in the Dayton agreement, the continued need for an external military presence to provide a secure environment in Bosnia led NATO to replace IFOR with a smaller Stabilization Force (SFOR, initially with about 32,000 troops) in December 1996. NATO extended SFOR a second time in June 1998, this time without a specified end-date. Instead, NATO outlined a number of benchmarks to measure progress toward a self-sustaining peace in Bosnia. Periodic mission reviews by NATO of SFOR operations assessed an increasingly stable security situation and prompted gradual reductions in SFOR's force strength over time. The U.N. Security Council authorized NATO' s original Congressional Research Service The Library of Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress