Police mission to Bosnia set to be unveiled

Date: 09/01/03

THE EU-controlled police mission to Bosnia will be formally launched in Sarajevo next week (15 January). Javier Solana, the Union's foreign policy chief, Paddy Ashdown, the international community's envoy to the Balkan state and George Papandreou, the Greek foreign minister, are all due to attend.

The work of the 500-strong force began on 1 January but its official unveiling has been postponed until Wednesday due to the Christmas festivities.

One diplomat said the European Union Police Mission (EUPM) has already been eager to prove its mettle.

On 2-3 January it monitored swoops by local police on more than 20 bars as part of a crackdown on organised crime and the trafficking of women.

The mission is made up of police from the 15 EU countries and 18 others.

It is the first time that Russian, Canadian and Ukrainian officers will have served under an EU banner.

Its work is considered a litmus test for how well the EU adapts to the international security role it has carved out for itself in recent years.

The force is headed by 55-year-old Dane Sven Christian Frederiksen, previously the UN's police commissioner in Kosovo.

He will be overseeing an annual budget of €38 million over the next three years.

While the mission does not have a mandate to arrest indicted war criminals, one EU official said it will be "encouraging local police to do the job".

The EU-controlled police mission to Bosnia will be formally launched in Sarajevo on 15 January 2003.