250 EUFOR Reserve Soldiers to Arrive in BiH Next Week

(Patria) - 250 EUFOR reserve soldiers from France, Italy, and Romania will arrive in BiH next week and will stay for one month, it was stated at today's press conference at Camp Butmir.

- It will be an opportunity for the Armed Forces (AF) of BiH to hold an exercise with European forces. We can expect an increased presence of troops and equipment in BiH ahead of the exercise - said the Minister of Defense of BiH, Zukan Helez.

As stated at the press conference, the deployment of these strategic reserve forces demonstrates the commitment of EUFOR and the EU to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

During their stay in BiH, the reserve forces will conduct training with the already deployed EUFOR forces and members of the AF BiH.

Minister Helez thanked the Commander of EUFOR in BiH, Major General Laszlo Sticz, for the support that EUFOR provides to our country.

- We know that EUFOR has an executive mandate that is approved annually by a UN Security Council resolution, and a non-executive mandate related to "Support to the Armed Forces of BiH in collective and combined training".

This month, we are jointly conducting training that serves as preparation for the exercise "Combined Response", planned from May 20 to 24, 2024
at Manjača.

The 1st Battalion of the 6th Infantry Brigade of the AF BiH, as well as members of EUFOR, are involved in this activity - Helez points out.

He adds that this is an excellent opportunity for our Armed Forces to train, and afterwards participate in an exercise with European Union forces, which is also part of our annual training and exercise plan.

The Commander of EUFOR, Major General Sticz, emphasized that a number of European Union member states have committed to providing reserve forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

- Reserve forces are regularly deployed to BiH for training purposes, so that they are familiar with EUFOR procedures in BiH, but also so that they are ready if it becomes necessary to integrate and complete a certain task. EUFOR is a strong, capable, and worthy partner of BiH - said Sticz.