The European Union (EU) decided on Thursday to almost double the size of its peacekeeping force in Bosnia, sending 500 reservists as a precautionary measure to prevent any instability following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Bosnia is hundreds of miles away from the fighting, but faces an increasingly assertive Bosnian Serb separatist movement that analysts say has at least tacit support from Moscow. “The deteriorating international security situation has the potential to spread instability in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” the European Union (EU) said in a statement. “It is a prudent and proportionate measure that reflects the clear commitment of the EU and EUFOR to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Bosnia,” he added.
Bosnia, like Ukraine, has long said it wants to join NATO – and both positions have angered Russia.
Moscow said in March last year that it would react if Bosnia took steps to join the US-led military alliance.
The Bosnian Serbs, led by pro-Russian Milorad Dodik, also said they wanted the country to remain neutral and stay out of NATO. Dodik, a Serb member of Bosnia’s tripartite presidency, said on Wednesday that Bosnia should not take a position on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and that Serbs would never agree to Bosnia being included in sanctions against Russia.
EUFOR, which replaced NATO peacekeepers in Bosnia in 2004, has about 3,500 staff – 600 of whom are currently in the country. About 500 staff members from Austria, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia, all of whom are currently EUFOR reserves outside Bosnia, will be deployed there over the next two weeks, EUFOR said.
Bosnia is going through its worst political crisis since the end of the Balkan wars of the 1990s, with Bosnian Serbs challenging state institutions as part of their long-running effort to secede and eventually join neighboring Serbia. Bosnia’s international envoy for peace, Christian Smith, welcomed the decision to step up, saying it underscored the international community’s commitment to Bosnia’s stability.
Source: Capital
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