The Minister of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zukan Helez, and former military envoy of the Federal Republic of Germany in BiH, Colonel Franz Josef Nolte, signed today in Sarajevo the annexes to the Technical Agreement based on which the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany grants new financial assistance for infrastructure works at several locations of the Armed Forces of BiH.
It is about the amount of 1,569,000 euros, which, with the coordination of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), will be spent on four additional individual projects of renovation, adaptation and modernization in the barracks of the Armed Forces of BiH “Kozara” in Banja Luka, “Zdravko Čelar” in Derventa, “Teufik Buza” in Visoko and the OSBiH barracks in Kiseljak.
The signing ceremony was also attended by Deputy Ministers of Defense of BiH Slaven Galić and Aleksandar Goganović, Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP in BiH Victor Munteanu, newly appointed military envoy of the Federal Republic of Germany in BiH Colonel Marc Abendroth, as well as Major Stefan Torschitz from the EUFOR command in BiH.
In appropriate speeches, Minister Helez expressed his gratitude for this assistance, which will further improve the living and working conditions of soldiers and energy efficiency in those locations. He emphasized that the partnership between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Germany is one of the keys to strengthening peace and stability, as well as achieving the strategic foreign policy goals of Bosnia and Herzegovina, above all full membership in Euro-Atlantic integration.
Helez, Galić and Goganović especially thanked Colonel Nolte for his personal commitment that the Ministry of Defense of the Federal Republic of Germany lobbies the German government so that infrastructure aid projects include the facilities of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the entity of Republika Srpska, because the management of the MoBiH does not divide the locations of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina according to the entities.
Deputy Minister Goganović emphasized that BiH’s European path must not have an alternative and thanked Colonel Nolte for helping in this in the best possible way. Deputy Minister Galić stated that the outgoing military envoy of the Federal Republic of Germany was the right man in the right place.
The meeting was also used for the inaugural visit of the newly appointed military envoy of FR Germany to BiH, Colonel Abendroth, to whom Minister Helez and deputies Galić and Goganović expressed their welcome and confidence that the successful cooperation between the defense ministries of BiH and FR Germany will continue to their mutual satisfaction.
Both Nolte and Abendroth concluded that the Federal Republic of Germany will continue to fully support BiH on its path to membership in the Euro-Atlantic integration, it was announced from the Public Relations Office of the Ministry of Defense of BiH.