German parliament extends Bundeswehr missions in the Balkans

The German Armed Forces will continue to participate in two international missions in the Balkans for another year, following a German parliamentary decision on Thursday evening.

The Bundestag agreed to extend the mandates for the NATO mission KFOR in Kosovo and the EU mission EUFOR Althea in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Now in its 27th year, the Kosovo mission is the Bundeswehr’s longest-running overseas deployment. The personnel ceiling remains unchanged at 400 German soldiers.

The mission’s role is to ensure stability in a country where tensions between the Albanian and Serbian communities continue to flare up.

The EU mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, for which up to 50 German soldiers are earmarked, is intended to monitor compliance with the Dayton Peace Agreement, the US-negotiated deal that brought the Bosnian War to an end in 1995.