The Middle East and Ukraine are currently hotbeds of war. In order to wage wars, an army and weapons are needed. And that costs money. A lot. The figures are dizzying, we are talking about the billions used to finance the current wars. And they are perhaps also the key trigger for which many countries in the world, Europe, but also in the region are arming themselves. And which country has the strongest army in the world, the Global Firepower portal investigated.
As expected, in the first place of the strongest army is America. Russia and China follow. Israel holds a high 17th position, followed closely by Ukraine in 18th place. When it comes to the Western Balkans, the best position is occupied by Serbia in 56th place. It left behind Croatia, which is in 66th place. Far behind is our country, which took a modest 116th position on this list.
And while regional countries like Serbia and Croatia significantly increase their budgets for the purpose of arming and strengthening their armies, Bosnia and Herzegovina is stagnant. Are weapons being rattled in the region? Is calling for more intensive state armament a show of military superiority or a sign of precaution? If so, Bosnia and Herzegovina lags behind in both cases. The resources of the Armed Forces are not satisfactory, but there is no reason to panic. At least that’s what the experts say.
About one billion euros in one year – Serbia. Almost four billion in the next three years – Croatia. That’s how much the neighboring countries plan to invest in the army and armaments. Amounts, in relation to our country – enormous. Military supremacy in the neighborhood or precaution?
“Croatia must start producing some of its own weapons. When I say part, I don’t mean airplanes, helicopters and complex systems, but ammunition, from small calibers to artillery shells,” said the President of the Republic of Croatia, Zoran Milanović.
“We are preparing a new package of another 150 million euros and another 400 million euros for all these years for additional equipment and arming of the Serbian Army, and this year will be the strongest and largest in terms of military equipment,” said the President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić.
It’s been that way for years, for a reason. In the past ten years, 2.87 billion dollars have been invested in this area. On the other hand, our country is extremely lagging behind in this regard. For the current year, we plan to allocate only about 190 million euros.
“Given that the funds for investing in capital investments for equipment and infrastructure from the approved budget are not sufficient, donations from partner countries are of great importance, especially for the procurement of military assets and equipment, training of personnel and support for infrastructure projects,” pointed out Zukan Helez. , Minister of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The reason, as always, politics. More specifically, the lack of agreement on this – as well as on other issues. They are blocking from the RS.
“The armed forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina are significantly behind the armies in the region because the representatives of the RS in the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Parliamentary Assembly and the Council of Ministers are not interested in the army being adequately armed and always adequately prepared for the defense of the country. “If there were no donations from friendly countries, members of NATO, especially the USA, Bosnia and Herzegovina would not have even the basic things it needs,” states military-political analyst Đuro Kozar.
Therefore, BH information that neighboring countries are arming themselves more intensively is not the most pleasant for citizens. However, Defense Minister Zukan Helez says that there is no reason to panic.
Croatia, as a member of the NATO alliance, is armed according to the standards of this military group. When it comes to Serbia, it can be characterized as primitive weaponry, equipment that more developed countries have rejected and does not represent anything more advanced than what Bosnia and Herzegovina has.
“We have enough weapons and equipment to keep Bosnia and Herzegovina safe in the environment. This year we have three very important events related to NATO. After the NATO summit, these are three events behind the NATO summit, which means that Bosnia and Herzegovina is practically , in the NATO alliance,” says Helez.
“Our citizens should not worry. Our army is armed with what it needs. Here we have EUFOR, we have the NATO headquarters, which are always ready to help our army”, says Kozar.
So, although Bosnia and Herzegovina is not a member of the NATO alliance, we rely almost entirely on them. There are also EUFOR forces, whose number of members in our country has increased drastically. The old practice has been around for years. While other countries secure themselves – we, as usual, hope for the saving hand of the international community.
