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| Last update: 20-Jul-2004 16:49 | NATO Update |
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Discussing mission handover
NATO Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and the EU High Representative
for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and Secretary General
of the Council of the EU, Javier Solana, were both in Sarajevo
on 15 July to discuss the handover of the NATO mission to the European
Union by the end of this year.
They held discussions with the High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, as well as with the Commander of the NATO-led force, SFOR, Major General Virgil L. Packett II. They also met the members of the Bosnian Tri-Presidency, Borislav Paravac, Dragan Covic and Sulejman Tihic, Prime Minister Terzic, Foreign Minister Ivanic, Defence Minister Radovanovic and Minister of Security Colak. They also discussed Bosnia and Herzegovina’s application for membership of NATO’s Partnership for Peace programme. As is the case for Serbia and Montenegro, conditions for membership are strongly linked to the country’s willingness to cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the arrest of war crime indictees such as Radovan Karadzic. Defence reform is also key to the membership process. During his visit, Mr Jaap de Hoop Scheffer also addressed the SFOR troops at Camp Butmir, the main SFOR headquarters in Bosnia and Herzegovina. NATO has been running a peacekeeping operation in the country for the past nine years, in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolution 1031. Once its mission is terminated, it will continue to maintain a presence through a new Military Liaison and Advisory Mission (NATO HQ Sarajevo) and will assist with specific competencies such as defence reform and preparations for the country’s potential future membership of the NATO Partnership for Peace programme. The name of the EU force to Bosnia and Herzegovina will be “Althea”. 
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