From 3 to 6 October, Austria and the European Security and Defence College held the third module of the 10^th CSDP training programme for the Western Balkan region. Major General Friedrich Schrötter (COMEUFOR) invited the course organisers and the participants to visit CAMP BUTMIR (Sarajevo), the headquarters of the military operation European Union Force Althea (EUFOR ALTHEA). EUFOR Althea is a military deployment in Bosnia and Herzegovina to oversee the military implementation of the Dayton Agreement.

COMEUFOR informed the course participants from the EU member states and Western Balkan partners about the ongoing operation. In his statement, he also underlined the need for a continued presence of the international community, in particular of EUFOR with its executive mandate, in order to assist Bosnia and Herzegovina in its transformation process.

BG Reinhard Trischak from the Austrian Ministry of Defence and Sports thanked COMEUFOR for the hospitality. He gave an overview of subjects currently under discussion in the EU and its member states, e.g. the European Global Strategy and its implementation, as well as hot topics such as terrorism and migration. For the latter topic, he presented the new book by Austria and the ESDC on 'Migration – how CSDP can support'.

Background: Since 2006, Austria, Hungary and Croatia have been providing a tailor-made training programme for the Western Balkan region. The programme consists of three modules: the first module is a elearning course, which provides basic knowledge of the Common Security and Defence Policy; the second module is a regular CSDP guidance course, which is held in Brussels and gives a good overview of CSDP from a structural and procedural point of view; the third and last module is held in an interactive seminar, which allows the students to apply the knowledge gained during modules one and two. This year, the CSDP training programme for Western Balkan partners is celebrating its 10^th anniversary.