Implementation Force mission

IFOR is not in Bosnia to fight a war or to impose a settlement on any of the Parties. NATO will not impose a settlement on the parties, but will take the necessary action to ensure compliance. The primary task of IFOR is to help the Parties implement a peace accord to which they have freely agreed, and will do so in an even-handed way. Moreover, IFOR will help to create a secure environment for civil and economic reconstruction.

IFOR is implementing the military aspects of the Bosnian Peace Agreement in an unbiased and even-handed way. The operation will be of limited duration of approximately 12 months.

The IFOR mission is to monitor and enforce compliance with the military aspects of the Peace Agreement. UNSC resolution 1031 provides the mandate for a one-year IFOR mission as described in the agreement. The North Atlantic Council has authorized IFOR for this period.

The military tasks include

• to ensure self defense and freedom of movement;
• to supervise selective marking of boundaries and Zone of Separation (ZOS) between the parties;
• to monitor and -- if needed -- enforce the withdrawal of forces to their respective territories, and the establishment of Zones of Separation;
• to assume control of the airspace over Bosnia-Herzegovina and of the movement of military traffic over key ground routes;
• to establish Joint Military Commissions, to serve as the central bodies for all Parties to the Peace Agreement;
• to assist with the withdrawal of UN forces not transferred to IFOR.

The deployment of the IFOR has also created a more secure environment which facilitates the work of humanitarian organizations and the accomplishment of the non-military aspects of the settlement. Within its capabilities and resources, and the limits imposed by carrying out its key military tasks, the IFOR may also:

• help to create secure conditions for the conduct by others of non-military tasks associated with the Peace Agreement, including free and fair elections;
• assist UNHCR and other international organizations in their humanitarian missions and assist the movement of these organizations;
• assist in the observation and prevention of interference with the movement of civilian populations, refugees and displaced persons, and respond appropriately to deliberate violence to life and person;
• assist in the monitoring of the clearance of minefields and obstacles.

In the phase after D+120, IFOR's primary mission continues. IFOR is pursuing its tasks of ensuring respect for the cessation of hostilities and the Zone of Separation. It will strictly hold the Parties to compliance with cantonment and demobilization of forces and will take appropriate action to prevent any new threats to the peace. It will continue to remove impediments to freedom of movement and to project a sense of security throughout the country. As before, all these tasks will be carried out in an even-handed manner. It will remain ready to support the UN Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia.

As the Peace Agreement states, other organizations will be responsible for tasks related to nation building. These include conducting humanitarian missions; granting election security; police force duties; moving refugees; and implementing arms control and regional stability measures.

In this framework, IFOR co-operates closely with the High Representative and there is IFOR representation on most of the joint civil commissions. Close co-operation has also been established with international organizations including the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Police Task Force (IPTF). Support is also given to the efforts of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).