The BiH Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ana Trišić-Babić participated yesterday at the “Wroclaw Global Forum 2013” in Poland.
The conference was organized by the Atlantic Council from Washington, and lecturers and participants at the conference were representatives of European countries, US, countries in the region, and representatives from the EU, NATO, and the non-profit sector.
Trišić-Babić participated as a speaker on the panel “Future of Expansion of NATO” together with the Georgian Minister for European and Euro Atlantic integration Alex Petriashvili, Ambassador of Macedonia to Poland Fatmir Kseladinij and representative of the Atlantic Council from Washington Damon Wilson.
Trišić-Babić spoke about the current status of the NATO integration process in BiH.
She recalled that due to the non-fulfillment of the conditions from Talin, since 2010 BiH is not able to apply to the Membership Action Plan for NATO membership, but rather to political and defense reforms of the system is implemented through the programs IPAP and PARP.
She added that only membership to NATO is not the only goal of aspiring countries, but also reforms in the country, and from this point of view NATO integration should be seen as the only possible option.
“For entry into NATO, a country has to reach a certain level of reforms and standards and therefore this process is not simply activities to expand the Alliance to new members, but above all it is one dynamic and complex process’, she said.
Participants explained that NATO continues to stand behind the open door policy and that it is firmly committed to receive countries that meet the criteria for membership.
Trišić-Babić said that BIH welcomes an individual approach to NATO integration, where every country is assessed according to progress and reforms as a prerequisite for membership in the Alliance.
She said that in accordance with this, BIH is focused on reforms and tasks that it alone should make, but it is open for cooperation with other countries in the process, announced the BIH Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
