EUFOR Althea

After visiting Serbia, Albania, Macedonia and Romania, Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva is continuing her Balkan tour with a visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The principal objective of Minister Zaharieva's visit is to present the priorities in the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2018, reported the Bulgarian National Radio.

Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev will visit Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina on April 21-23.

EUFOR key to BiH's Euro-Atlantic membership

Officials agree on the importance of EUFOR's continued presence in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

With the presence of EUFOR ALTHEA troops still an important and visible part of EU efforts to bolster Bosnia and Herzegovina's European path, the UN Security Council has moved to extend the deployment for another year.

Diplomats and experts believe Russia is trying out a new strategy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, after Russia's representative on the UN Security Council abstained from a vote to extend the mandate of the EU mission, EUFOR, in Bosnia on November 12.