The BiH Minister of Defense Zekerijah Osmić said today in Sarajevo that the Ministry of Defense, Armed Forces and Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of BiH received clear and unequivocal confirmation from members of the NATO delegation that they are fully prepared to enter the Action Plan for membership for BiH to NATO.
“This is a confirmation to the BiH Armed Forces that they are fully ready to answer to all the tasks, challenges and standards set by NATO’’, said Osmić to journalists after the meeting with the Deputy Commander of the Allied Command for Transformation General Mječeslav Bjenjek and the Deputy Chief of Staff for Military Partnerships of the Supreme Joint Forces Command in Europe Sandor Fucsku.
Osmić added that the BiH Armed Forces received recognition from high staff in NATO for their continued progress in reaching NATO standards.
According to him, through the involvement of members of the BiH Armed Forces in peace operations throughout the world, they have shown that they are fully equal partners with other participants in peace operations.
General Bjenjek confirmed that during today’s meeting, the BiH Minister of Defense submitted a strategic review of the activities of the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces.
“The Ministry of Defense and the BiH Armed Forces have done their part of the job for MAP, and now it is time for politicians to do their job. NATO wishes that BiH becomes a modern and stable country as soon as possible’’, said Bjenjek.
Responding to a question by a reporter, Osmić said that the Ministry of Defense, in accordance with the decision of the BiH Presidency, edited 63 perspective sites, but that their registration could begin only when there is a law at the level of BiH.
“We haven’t given up anything from that so far. When a law is adopted or when we receive a specific decision, then we will finish that as well’’, said Osmić.
The NATO coordination workshop for military partnership 2013 opened today in Sarajevo. There are 150 participants from 27 partner countries, representatives of all NATO commands and 10 NATO schools, and representatives of the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces of BiH.
The intention of NATO is to bring together in this workshop all the carriers responsible for matters of military partnership that represent NATO headquarters, the NATO command structure at the strategic and operative level and partners from all program partnerships (Partnership for Peace, Mediterranean dialogue, Istanbul initiative of cooperation and Partners in the world), with the goal to have discussions on current and possible engagements with partners in the future.
