After the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the international community deployed NATO forces to perform tasks in the operation Joint Forge.

On 2 December 2004, following the decision by NATO to conclude its SFOR mission, the European Union launched a military operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) - (EUFOR – Operation ALTHEA). The purpose of the operation ALTHEA is to provide military presence in order to contribute to a safe and secure environment, deny conditions for the resumption of violence, manage any residual aspect of the General Framework Agreement for Peace and thereby allow all EU and international actors to carry out their responsibilities.
The EU deployed a military force (EUFOR) - at the same force levels as SFOR (7,000 troops) - with a Chapter VII mission to ensure continued compliance with the Dayton/Paris Agreement and to contribute to a safe and secure environment in BiH.

The key supporting tasks of the EU-led force are to: provide support to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and relevant authorities, including the detention of persons indicted for war crimes, and provide secure environment in which the police can act against organised criminal networks.

Slovenian Armed Forces officers and non-commissioned officers work at the EUFOR Command as well as in the National Support Element, which provides administrative and logistic support for the members of the Slovenian Armed Forces. An air squad of the Slovenian Armed Forces also participates in the operation.