A Bilateral Military Cooperation Plan for year 2020 was signed in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH’s) capital Sarajevo on Thursday aiming to enhance the cooperation with the United States (US) Ministry of Defense, BiH’s Ministry of Defense stated in the press release the same day.
During the signing ceremony in the premises of BiH’s Ministry of Defense, it was mutually agreed that 129 joint activities will further enhance the capabilities of BiH’s Armed Forces.
On behalf of BiH’s Ministry of Defense, the assistant to minister of defense for the international cooperation Zoran Sajinovic, emphasized that the US is the number one strategic partner for BiH.
“In this cooperation, the two countries work together to maintain stability in the country and in the world, both through military projects in BiH and through participation in regional initiatives and international peace support missions,” Sajinovic said.
Sajinovic continued by praising the great assistance provided by the US Embassy’s Office for Defense Cooperation (ODC) and the Maryland National Guard in the military equipment, services and financial resources of the BiH’s Armed Forces.
For his part, US Defense Attaché to BiH Michael Tarquinto noted that the Bilateral Military Cooperation Plan for 2020 is based on successful projects from this and previous years.
The program is implemented through mutual visits, participation in exercises such as practice disaster response mechanisms, exercise capabilities, and demonstration of each nation’s ability to work together effectively in emergency crisis response operations such as rescue operations, flood response, and response to chemical incidents.
Especially successful was the four-day “Silver Arrow” military exercise held in September in Tuzla, where members of BiH’s Armed Forces, the National Guard of Maryland and US Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) trained to direct planes and helicopters for combat and tactical field operations.
Earlier, BiH’s Armed Forces did not have this capability, which is applicable in developed armies of the world.
The BiH-Maryland Partnership dates back to 2003 and has been established to increase understanding and interoperability between the two countries and to provide assistance and support to BiH’s democratic institutions and government bodies.
