The BIH Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of BIH Ana Trišić-Babić is leading a BIH delegation at the meeting of the American-Adriatic Charter in Skopje.
Participants are discussing issues of regional security and the progress of NATO integration in the region in the light of the upcoming NATO summit, and current plans of individual countries of the region regarding participation in the post-conflict development of Afghanistan after the end of NATO operations of ISAF in 2014.
The meeting in Skopje marks the tenth anniversary of this initiative in which Macedonia is ending its presidency of the American-Adriatic Charter, and will hand over the presidency to Montenegro.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro Igor Lukšić announced that the focus of the Montenegrin presidency would be the continuation of regional cooperation from the area of security and defense and that during the presidency a series of activities would be organized.
Deputy Minister Trišić-Babić pointed out that the Charter contributed to a regional approach in reforms and training countries to be a part of the Euro Atlantic security community.
Countries of the Charter understand that it is necessary to carry out profound reforms of society and reach certain standards, so that that country could become a member of this community.
The examples of Albania and Croatia, who became NATO members, prove that getting closer to this organization means, above all, a transformation of society in a stable democratic system.
Deputy Minister Trišić-Babić expressed the importance of the operation of the ISAF for BiH and an increase in the efficiency and interoperability of its armed forces, and confirmed the readiness of BiH to consider modalities of the eventual participation in the civil operation in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of the Allied forces in 2014.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Deputy Minister Trišić-Babić met with the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the US Philip Riker, and expressed the importance of activating the Membership Action Plan (MAP), because reforms in MAP are significantly more complex and serious, and its influence would be felt in all spheres of BIH society.
Philip Riker said that it is necessary to complete the process of posting military assets as a precondition for the activation of MAP, and to continue with the democratic process of decision-making in BiH institutions.
Deputy Minister Trišić-Babić said at the meeting that it is necessary to continue to inform the public, especially young people, on the benefits of further progress of the country in the Euro Atlantic process, and the importance of the cooperation of BiH and the US in this area, announced the BiH Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
