EU Operation Althea – Bosnia Liaison & Observation Teams

After the establishment of Dayton’s Agreements (December 1995) to end the conflict in Bosnia Herzegovina, the UN (UNPROFOR) handed over to NATO ‘s Implementation Force (IFOR) the task of supervising the implementation of the Agreement. IFOR had approximately 60.000 soldiers in its Area of Responsibility (AOR). One year after that, IFOR had successfully finished its mission and reached its “end-date”, and NATO implemented a Stabilization Force (SFOR), which was subsequently activated on 20 December 1996, the date the IFOR mandate expired. Initially, SFOR’s size was around 32,000 troops, approximately half that of IFOR, and later reduced even further to 12.000. SFOR operation was brought to a successful end on 2 December 2005, and the European Union to over from NATO with a (EUFOR) force of 7.000 military personnel, with Operation Althea.

With fewer troops in the AOR EUFOR had to have eyes and ears throughout the country to provide enough reaction time to react. Therefore, in February 2007, the troop levels was educed to around 1,600 but the Althea (the healing Greek Goddess) incremented its overall situational awareness by following the example of the United Nations Military Observers (UNMO) teams model, and implemented 45 Liaison and Observation Teams (LOTs) throughout the Country.

However, unlike the UNMO system, the LOT did not have a multinational constitution and they were not fully controlled or financed by the European Union. LOT houses were equipped and financed by the Troop Contributing Nation, and the personnel of the LOT were all from that same nation. The constitution of the Team (team member numbers, ranks, male/female, expertise, weapons, vehicles, etc.) was all a National responsibility. The LOT modus operandi was the result of bilateral agreements between the TCN and the Government of Bosnia Herzegovina. The EU (Althea) had the tactical control of their activities in the AOR.

The LOTs work was critical for Althea’s the Command and Control, because (much like the UNMO for the UN) they were a key element of the EUFOR Situational Awareness (SA).  They were the ‘feet on the ground’ of the mission, living in rented houses among the population; hence the principal visible presence of EUFOR throughout the country.

LOT tasks were:

• Reports on the situation in their area of operations (AOO);
• Investigate and prompt response to short notice Requests for Information (RFI) about events in their AOO;
• Exercise liaison with International Organizations and with Bosnia Herzegovina’s Organizations Local authorities (Civ/Mil);
• Be prepared to support information and/or media activities as tasked;
• Maintain up to date plans for emergencies and evacuation.

Although it was a National responsibility to define the constitution of the LOT, the composition of such teams should encompass the capability to maintain 2 Patrols in the field, cover LOT House security and communications duty on a 24 hour basis and allow for personnel on leave.  Strengths would normally vary between 6 and 10 military personnel (lead by a Lieutenant Colonel), along with 3 to 5 Local Staff. Each LOT should be able to maintain at least 75% of its strength in the LOT AOR at all times.

In 2012, following another force restructuring, Operation Althea was further reduced to just about 600 staff members, mainly dedicate to collective and combined training of the Bosnian Armed Forces.