UPDATE - UN Security Council renews EU-led stabilization force in Bosnia and Herzegovina

ADDS REMARKS BY CHAIRMAN OF PRESIDENCY OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA AND EU OFFICIAL

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The UN Security Council on Friday renewed the EU-led stabilization force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUFOR-Althea) for an additional year.

The 15-member council unanimously adopted Resolution 2795 and authorized the member states acting through or in cooperation with the EU to establish, for another 12 months, a multinational stabilization force, or EUFOR-Althea.

Greece, which penned the draft resolution, welcomes unanimous renewal of the EUFOR-Althea mandate, Aglaia Balta, the country's permanent representative to the UN, told the Council.

"Since its establishment in 2004, EUFOR-Althea has played an indispensable role in safeguarding security and stability in Bosnia Herzegovina," Balta said.

EUFOR-Althea is mandated to help implement the military aspects of the 1995 General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement, which ended the 1992-1995 Bosnian War.

In 2004, nine years after the war ended, the EU launched the military Operation Althea in the Western Balkan country. This followed the decision by NATO to hand over its own peacekeeping mission that had maintained security in the region since the war ended.

Zeljko Komsic, chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, expressed his gratitude for the decision of extension of Althea mission.

Ambassador Stavros Lambrinidis, the head of the delegation of the EU to the UN, told the council that the EU welcomes the renewal of the mandate of EUFOR-Althea.

"EUFOR-Althea continues to play a key role in supporting the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina in maintaining a safe and secure environment for all its citizens," Lambrinidis said.

This operation demonstrates the EU's "long-standing commitment" to Bosnia and Herzegovina, he added.