The operation coincided with talks between the chairman of Bosnia-Herzegovina's Council of Ministers, Adnan Terzic, and Serbia-Montenegro President Svetozar Marovic, at which they agreed the two countries' security services and state institutions had to cooperate in efforts to arrest war crimes indictees believed to be illegally crossing from one country to the other in attempts to avoid getting arrested.
Hoerpel, however, told reporters today that the SFOR operation between Trebinje and Gacko was not linked to the Terzic-Marovic talks but was aimed at helping Bosnia's border service prevent smuggling on the border with Montenegro.