NATO expansion: Germany sends 50 troops to Bosnia amid public outcry
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Germany deploys 50 troops to Sarajevo, with Bosnian Serbs opposing the move and the Russian embassy warning of NATO power plays.
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German troops to be deployed in Bosnia (AFP)
50 soldiers are due to join the EU-led 'peacekeeping' mission in the former Yugoslav republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina, after pulling out almost 10 years ago.
The aim of deploying the German troops is to boost military volume at both the headquarters of Operation Althea and at a network of outposts that provide a tie to local governments and communities. This comes after Germany decided to suspend filling in for the French military in Mali amid the country's insurgency.
The mission stated: “This deployment is a further demonstration of the EU’s commitment to a stable, prosperous and European future for all the citizens” of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
A “creeping NATO-ization”
The Bosnian Serb member of the country’s tripartite presidency, Milorad Dodik, said that his people do not advocate this and can’t trust Germany’s military presence in Bosnia, considering the recent Bundestag resolution expressing the need to revise the Dayton Peace Accords, the peace agreement that ended the war in Bosnia back in 1995, which led to the Srebrenica massacre.
Approximately 50,000 NATO 'peacekeepers' were first deployed to Bosnia in 1996, to enforce the truce that ended the 1992-95 civil war between the country’s Serbs, Muslims, and Croats. The EU took over in 2004, leading Germany to withdraw in late 2012.
Dodik noted that Germany’s history in the region, as occupiers in both World Wars, also goes against the Serbs having any confidence in Berlin’s actions. The Russian embassy in Sarajevo commented that the arrival of German troops represents a part of the US-UK agenda for a “creeping NATO-ization” of Bosnia.
EUFOR (the European Union peacekeeping force) had told the UN Security Council that the country was peaceful and stable, so their abrupt need for reinforcements seems deceitful, adding that references to the Ukraine conflict are “particularly unacceptable."
Senior EU officials have warned that instability and disorder from the war in Ukraine could leak to the Western Balkans.
EUFOR’s mandate is scheduled to end in November with its extension in the hands of the UN Security Council, where Russia has a veto. Last year, when Russia refused to approve the appointment of Christian Schmidt as the new “high representative” in Bosnia, and Western countries appointed the former German politician themselves.
