Members of the delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PABiH) to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) in Copenhagen participated in the session of the Political Committee of the NATO PA and held a meeting with the delegation of the Parliament of the Republic of Croatia.
The chairman of the delegation of the PABiH to the NATO PA, Kemal Ademovic, and the deputy chairpersons of the delegation, Marina Pendes and Obren Petrovic participated in the two-day session of the Political Committee of the NATO PA, which, within the framework of the 69th annual session of the NATO PA, was held in Copenhagen.
Members of the Political Committee of the NATO PA discussed the topic “The future of NATO’s open door policy”. The rapporteur of the NATO PA on this topic, Audronius Azubalis, in his introductory presentation, emphasized that the NATO membership of the current candidates would further expand the area of democracy and stability in Europe.
As he said, NATO’s “open door” policy represents a flexible political instrument within which NATO allies should show determination and make decisions on the membership of BiH, Moldova, Georgia, and Ukraine when the necessary conditions are met and when the candidate countries decide on such decisions.
When it comes to BiH, parliamentarians from NATO member states called for the continuation of additional tailored support but also emphasized that it is up to BiH politicians to strengthen the country’s internal cohesion and advance reforms, if they want membership in the European Union (EU) and NATO to become a reality.
In this regard, it was said that progress is expected in the functioning of BiH institutions, improvement of reforms in the sectors of defense, economy, rule of law, and the fight against corruption. The decision from the NATO summit in Madrid was also welcomed, at which it was decided to strengthen adapted political and practical support to BiH through the agreed package for building defense capacities.
The delegation of the PABiH to the NATO PA also met with the delegation of the Parliament of the Republic of Croatia to the NATO PA, which included the chairman of the delegation Ante Bacic, and member of the delegation Dario Hrebak. Members of the Croatian Parliament Delegation strongly supported NATO’s “open door” policy, stressing that Croatia’s support and assistance to BiH is not in question, and appealing that all open internal issues be resolved by BiH politicians, N1 reports.
E.Dz.
