The Turks… in the canteen. Failed coup disrupts EUFOR Althea's plans
(BRUSSELS2) The failed coup in Turkey has somewhat destabilized the EU stabilization operation in Bosnia-Herzegovina (EUFOR Althea), managed jointly with NATO (1).
The operation has, in fact, a non-negligible Turkish contingent of the order of one company, that is to say a good quarter of the workforce approximately (2). During the few hours of the coup d'etat, the question of the availability of troops arose.
We questioned EUFOR HQ, which did not want to confirm the information but did not deny it either, preferring to stick to a formal message from the commander:
The Turkish Contingent in EUFOR are professional soldiers and carry out their regular duties under EUFOR Command. They continue to contribute along with another 20 Nations in BiH, all focused on Capacity Building and training and providing a Safe and Secure Environment.
According to our (other) information, the commander of EUFOR (COMEUFOR) however, asked the Hungarians (about 200 soldiers) present in Sarajevo who were preparing to return to the country, to immediately stop their return, the time to see things a little clearer. The situation in Turkey having " rift », the penalty was lifted and the Hungarian contingent was able to return to the country (3).
Comment: Even if the competence of Turkish soldiers cannot be called into question, the reliability of the commitment of Turkish forces in multinational operations such as EUFOR Althea risks being compromised, at least in the coming months. The purges carried out in the Turkish forces could, moreover, have the effect of destabilizing and compromising the Turkish commitment externally. The question of finding alternative solutions will therefore quickly have to be posed to those in charge of NATO and the European Union.
(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)
(1) Under the Berlin Plus format, the chain of command is mixed. Command of the operation is provided by D-Saceur (British General Sir Adrian Bradshaw) to SHAPE (NATO's supreme command) while command of the force is provided by an EU soldier, Austrian General Friedrich Schrötter. Read : The Berlin Accords More (2015)
(2) The operation now has a strength of less than 600 men.
(3) It should be noted that EUFOR Althea has an intermediate reserve force which is stationed in the country of origin. In this case, a unit of Hungarian forces (company size) remains on alert in Hungary.
