Austrian general takes over Bosnia's EU force command: report
(SARAJEVO) - Austria's Major General Bernhard Bair on Friday took over command of the European Union's peacekeeping force in Bosnia (EUFOR), local FENA news agency reported.
"Bosnia-Hercegovina has achieved progress but a lot of work is still ahead of us," Bair said at a handover ceremony quoted by FENA.
"We will continue this journey together and I believe it will end up successfully," said the general, who takes over from Italy's Major General Stefano Castagnotto.
EUFOR took over from NATO-led peacekeepers in 2004. At the time it numbered some 7,000 troops.
EU's Althea peacekeeping mission carries out military tasks under the deal to end the 1992-1995 inter-ethnic war that claimed some 100,000 lives.
It currently has some 2,000 troops from 25 countries, of which 20 are EU members.
The UN Security Council in November extended the mandate of EUFOR for a year.
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