UN's Bosnia mission wraps up operations, leaves behind police force 'fit for Europe'

After successfully completing the most extensive police reform and restructuring mandate ever undertaken by the United Nations, the UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH) will cease operations at midnight tonight.

"Bosnia and Herzegovina now has 'a police force fit for Europe' firmly based on international standards of democratic policing, and in the service of all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina," UNMIBH said in a statement issued today. "It represents a major stride forward towards European integration."

Starting tomorrow, the European Union Police Mission (EUPM) will take over the tasks performed by UNMIBH, while the UN will remain engaged in furthering the country's post-war development and recovery through the work of its agencies.

In a ceremony on Monday in Sarajevo, the Mission awarded an accreditation certificate to the country's State Border Service, completing the accreditation of all the country's law enforcement institutions.