EUFOR

With the acronym EUFOR (of English. European Union Force ) are temporary multinational military organizations of the European Union referred to in the framework of the Common Security and Defence Policy ( CSDP ) are used.

Leadership

At the strategic level is the political - and thus top - leadership by the Political and Security Committee (PSC ) of the EU. Militarily, the responsibility lies on this plane at an Operation Commander. Since no standing EU command structure is available, it is appointed for each mission from one of the nations participating in the operation. For the preparation of a rod which supports him in the planning and leadership, the EU sees the three main options:

To build up an operational headquarters ( OHQ ), five Member States set within their military leadership organizational elements that growing up as a core for a, by reinforcing international forces serve Commitments Staff. France makes this a headquarters in Mont Valérien, Paris, the United Kingdom in Northwood, in Potsdam Germany, Italy, Rome and Greece in Larissa. Examples of the use of this option were the EUFOR DR Congo under the leadership of the Bundeswehr Operations Command as a German OHQ or EUFOR Tchad / RCA, in which the French OHQ was activated.

A second way to build a OHQ consists in recourse to NATO command structure under the Berlin Plus Agreement. It is currently used as part of Operation Althea, when the EUFOR forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina by the DSACEUR as Operation Commander Allied Powers Europe Supreme Headquarters (SHAPE) in Mons be performed as OHQ.

A third option is the use of the EU Operation Centres. This is from January 2007 in Brussels and thus in close proximity to the crucial political bodies of the EU. The EU Operation Center grows after activation of a core staff of eight officers on by amplification by international staff to the extent necessary. The objective is to take the planning within five days with 89 civilian and military forces to 20 days to be able to perform with full staff strength surgery.

For the guidance at the operational level of the Force Commander with an joint and multinational Busy Bar, the Force Headquarters ( FHQ ), also determined separately for each mission. He is with his command post usually in or close to the area of ​​operation.

Inserts

Operation in Macedonia 2003 ( Concordia )

Operation Concordia was the monitoring of the Ohrid Framework Agreement in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, began on 31 March 2003., The use was the result of and a first test for the decision taken in December 2002 strategic security partnership between NATO and the EU. It included 350 lightly armed soldiers from 25 countries and was completed on 15 December 2003. Based on commitments formed the Resolution 1371 of the UN Security Council.

Operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2003 ( Operation Artemis )

From June to September 2003, approximately 2,000 mostly French EUFOR soldiers were used to support the UN mission MONUC in the Democratic Republic of Congo in Bunia. Operation Artemis had the objective of improving the security situation in the city after riots broke out there, and the UN soldiers needed local support. Basis of the posting was the Resolution 1484 of the UN Security Council of 30 May 2003 and the decision of the EU Council of 12 June 2003.

Main article: Operation Artemis

Operation in Bosnia - Herzegovina (Operation Althea )

With the end of SFOR took over on 2 December 2004, the European Union with Operation Althea and military tasks under the supervision and implementation of the Dayton Agreement in Bosnia - Herzegovina. The size of the under EU command units corresponded initially largely to the state of the SFOR mission. 2007 was a massive restructuring and reduction of troops.

Main article: Operation Althea

Operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo 2006 ( EUFOR RD Congo)

The idea for an EU military operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo to support the already located there, the UN mission MONUC before and during the local elections in 2006 went by the United Nations. A corresponding concept, the EU Council agreed on 23 March 2006. The mandate given by Resolution 1671 of the UN Security Council on 25 April 2006. Two days later, the deployment of the EU Council has decided. The German Bundestag approved on 1 June 2006 on the deployment of 780 soldiers of the Bundeswehr in the context of using EUFOR RD Congo, which included a total of 2,400 soldiers. For the most part, the Bundeswehr in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, and in Libreville / Gabon was stationed as a part of the reserve, the so-called "over the horizon" force ( above the horizon ). The rest, including the French forces were, however, used directly in the Congo.

Political control of the use took the Political and Security Committee of the EU, while the military control was ensured by the Bundeswehr Operations Command in Potsdam as EU headquarters. Commander of this mission was the German Lieutenant General Karlheinz Viereck, the German contingent led Rear Admiral Henning Bess.

The cost for Germany amounted to 56 million euros, the total cost amounted to 428 million U.S. dollars. The operation was completed as scheduled by the Council of the European Union on 30 November 2006.

Evaluation of the operation

The assessment of the use can be described as ambivalent. The EU introduced in the Congo for the first time by an autonomous and planned in the context of multinational military operation in support of the United Nations. The use case was smoothly on the whole, because discussed in advance any necessary problems like fighting or confrontation with child soldiers did not occur. Therefore, the operation is considered as a success.

However, it came in the run-up to problems in planning, the lack of sufficient experience, called on the EU in use in Africa. The coordination between the States was lacking. There were also disputes about the number of soldiers to be used, the locations and the seat of the headquarters. After Lars Colschen the use was therefore not convincing evidence that the EU is already able to make a significant contribution to peace.

Operation in Chad and the Central African Republic (EUFOR Tchad / RCA)

EUFOR Tchad / RCA was the March 2008 to March 2009 bridging application to support the UN mission MINURCAT in the Central African Republic and Chad, with about 3,700 soldiers from 14 European countries. Their mission was to improve the security situation for the people living there, particularly refugees and internally displaced persons, for personnel providing humanitarian assistance, as well as the implementation of humanitarian assistance and the protection of personnel, equipment and facilities of the United Nations.

See main article: EUFOR Tchad / RCA

Operation in the Horn of Africa (Operation Atalanta )

Since December 2008, the EU NAVFOR Somalia Operation Atalanta leads to protect humanitarian aid deliveries to Somalia, free shipping and to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia in the Horn of Africa through. A special feature of this mission is that it is the first EU naval operation.

Main article: Operation Atalanta