Kurt Bassuener, November 5, 2025
The United Nations Security Council’s unanimous decision to renew the mandate of the European Union’s peace enforcement mission (EUFOR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina for another year was a relief. Despite reports that Russia, an ally of Bosnian Serb separatist leader Milorad Dodik would go along with the extension, some — myself included — were not reassured. Indeed, the remarks by Council members during the Oct. 31 debate reflected fissures over the future of international oversight in the country, which still struggles to overcome the divisions cemented by the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords that ended the war. With the one-year cushion that the EUFOR mandate extension provides and today’s decision by Bosnia’s Constitutional Court rejecting an appeal by Dodik, Europe’s leading democracies must urgently prepare themselves for the disruption posed by the changed posture of the United States on Bosnia, exemplified just last week by the dramatic lifting of sanctions against Dodik.
Read the full article at Just Security here.
