Austria's Defence Minister Norbert Darabos has proposed that European Union Battlegroups, which have been waiting for their first task for seven years, should be deployed in Bosnia and Herzegovina as tactical reserve forces in the event of a deterioration of the situation there.
Darabos announced the proposal at a meeting of EU defence ministers in Nicosia, Cyprus, according to a statement issued by the Austrian defence ministry on Thursday.
In July, 350 Austrian troops joined the 3,000-strong EU Battlegroups, currently under the command of Germany.
The international military mission in Bosnia was overhauled this August. The number of its troops was halved from 1,200 to 600, mostly Austrians.
Darabos said that in the run-up to local elections and due to the unstable political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the international community should not renounce "that important instrument of peace effort".
