Germany has deployed troops with the European Union’s peacekeeping mission in Bosnia for the first time in a decade, as concerns that growing instability from the Ukraine war could spill over into the Western Balkans.
On Tuesday, the first German soldiers to return to the country were welcomed in a ceremony at the EUFOR headquarters in Sarajevo that marked the start of their mission, a German military spokesman said.
Germany will deploy around 30 troops in total to Bosnia by mid-September, returning to the force it left at the end of 2012.
Bosnia is hundreds of miles from the fighting in Ukraine, but faces an increasingly assertive Bosnian Serb separatist movement that analysts say has at least tacit support from Moscow.
NATO and senior EU officials have warned that instability from the war in Ukraine could spread to the Western Balkans.
Just days after Russia invaded Ukraine, the EU decided to almost double the size of its EUFOR peacekeeping force to 1,100 from 600 troops, sending in reserves to prevent potential instability.
During a visit to the northern city of Novi Grad on Tuesday, Bosnian Serb separatist leader Milorad Dodik said German troops are not welcome, referring to Germany’s role in World War II. Dodik has previously said he regretted agreeing as a member of the state presidency to extend EUFOR’s mandate.
EUFOR’s mandate expires in November and it is up to the UN Security Council to decide whether to extend it for another year. Concerns are growing in the West that Moscow may use its veto to prevent a deal.
Source: Capital
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