The Ministry of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina does not have any official document on the procurement of combat drones from Turkey announced by BiH Defense Minister Zukan Helez, his deputy Aleksandar Goganović told BHRT.
Goganović said that he heard about the aforementioned acquisition from the media, and that he could neither confirm nor deny the information.
“We do not have any official document that states that we will procure these drones, we do not have planned funds for the procurement of these drones,” said Goganović.
According to him, maybe Minister Helez arranged the purchase with Turkey through a donation.
“In that case, we must have planned funds for VAT, for forwarding, but here, these are all steps that can be implemented if this information is confirmed,” said Goganović.
He added that within the Armed Forces they do not even have a unit that would manage these drones.
“In the modernization plan, reconnaissance drones are foreseen, but these drones are serious combat drones… They cannot take off from some meadow, they have to from Sarajevo Airport or the Airport in Mostar or Mahovljani, the question is how much would Sarajevo Airport allow them to take off during civilian flights combat drones…”, he pointed out.
He claims that Minister Helez does not want to cooperate with his deputies, and that this is the cause of numerous problems.
“The Ministry of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina is designed so that we cooperate closely and make decisions together. I believe that we could do far more things if we had this form of cooperation,” said Goganović.
NATO does not insist that BiH be its member
He also referred to the fact that BiH did not send the annual Reform Program.
“The reform program is a really high-quality document. We want cooperation with the NATO alliance, but at the moment we do not want to talk about possible membership in the NATO alliance,” said Goganović.
According to him, although there is no consensus on this issue, there are persistent allegations that BIH wants membership in NATO.
“I will always call for cooperation, for dialogue, to get to the starting point from 2019, where the Reform Program is the Reform Program, not the ANP that simply says we want cooperation,” added the Deputy Minister of Defense of BiH.
He pointed out that BiH has excellent cooperation with NATO, and that he will try to strengthen it.
“I have had a lot of meetings with senior NATO officials and what they say is that they do not insist that BiH become a member of the NATO alliance until an agreement is reached between the three nations and two entities, because the NATO alliance respects the Dayton Peace Agreement.” emphasized Goganović.
The presence of EUFOR is necessary for Bosnia and Herzegovina
He also spoke about the Rapid Response military exercise that members of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina had together with EUFOR.
“Bosnia and Herzegovina still needs the presence of EUFOR because it is the guarantor of peace in the country and we expect the mandate to be extended for another year,” Goganović said.
He pointed out that members of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina are gaining new knowledge and experience through joint military exercises with EUFOR, and they all support the presence of the Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“EUFOR is the only one with a mandate to assess the security situation in BiH and according to all their reports, there are no major security challenges in BiH, but I think we really still need it and we have no need to be against their presence,” he emphasized.
Participation in the election process would damage the reputation of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina
After Minister Helez recently said that a decision was made that the BiH MoD will use its vehicles to transport election materials on election day, Goganović strongly opposed it, claiming that it could damage the reputation of the Armed Forces of BiH.
“What I am afraid of is how it can reflect on the reputation of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina. If a certain number of election materials accidentally disappear during transport, who will be responsible? The City Election Commission will say ‘we sent it’, the Central Election Commission will say ‘we did not receive it’ ‘, means the reputation of the Armed Forces will be tarnished,” he stated.
According to him, he does not see what benefit the Armed Forces would have from it.
“Who will pay us, will anyone pay, will the BiH Council of Ministers cover the costs… There are enough questions, but few answers. If the competent institutions, the Presidency, the Joint Staff support it, I will also support it, but someone has to provide all the answers,” emphasized Goganović, BHRT writes.
Photo: Raport
