Mr. Pierre Vimont, Secretary General of the European External Action Service, visited Dublin on 3 October. While here, he met with the Secretary General of my Department and other senior officials. I was unable to meet Mr Vimont on that occasion as I was in Brussels for consultations between the Government and the EU Commission on plans for our EU Presidency. Bosnia and Herzegovina features regularly on the agenda of the Foreign Affairs Council. In fact, Conclusions on Bosnia and Herzegovina were adopted by Foreign Affairs Council yesterday in which the Council reiterates its unequivocal support for Bosnia and Herzegovina's EU perspective as a sovereign and united country enjoying full territorial integrity, and confirms the EU's readiness to continue at this stage an executive military role to support Bosnia and Herzegovina's efforts to maintain the safe and secure environment, under a renewed UN mandate.
We expect that in November the UN Security Council will agree to the renewal of the mandate of the European Union multinational stabilization force (EUFOR Althea), under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.
There will be a further discussion on Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Foreign Affairs Council in December, in light of the European Commission’s assessment in its report on enlargement, issued on 10 October.