The Minister of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zukan Helez, together with the Deputy Ministers Slaven Galić and Aleksandar Goganović and the Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of BiH for Operations Major General Ivica Jerkić, received the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Croatia Mario Banozic on an official visit on Thursday.
On this occasion, Ministers Helez and Banožić signed a technical agreement on the improvement of further cooperation between the Ministry of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Croatia in the field of training of military and civilian personnel. As it was pointed out, this fulfills a mutually accepted obligation from the joint session of the Government of the Republic of Croatia and the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina held in mid-June this year.
The main topic of the meeting was bilateral military cooperation between the two countries, which was assessed as excellent by both sides. It was especially emphasized that consent was given to the head of the military part of the BiH Mission to NATO for the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministries of Defense of BiH and the Republic of Croatia and the Supreme Command of the Allied Forces for Europe (SHAPE) on the realization of the exchange of data on the situation in the airspace (ASDE). This will allow the Republic of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to share a military picture in the airspace, which will be the initial step in the future integration of the surveillance and protection system of the airspace of Bosnia and Herzegovina into a single Euro-Atlantic system.
Minister Helez emphasized the great importance of the military training of cadets and members of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Croatian Military Academy (HVU) in Zagreb and thanked Minister Banožić for that kind of support. A significant number of cadets and active military personnel from BiH were educated at HVU, and currently another 18 cadets and seven active military personnel are being educated. He especially thanked Croatia for mutual cooperation and assistance in situations of natural disasters and large fires. He emphasized that the support of the Republic of Croatia is always loud in the matter of BiH’s membership in NATO and the EU. He also thanked Croatia for its support in agreeing on the NATO aid package for building the defense capacities of Bosnia and Herzegovina (DCB), and added that any help from Croatia in further equipping the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina would be welcome.
“Bilateral military cooperation is intensive and takes place at all levels – from tactical to strategic,” said Minister Helez. “Appreciating our foreign policy goals in the process of Euro-Atlantic integration, i
the fact that the Republic of Croatia is a member of both the European Union and NATO, and that we belong to a unique geopolitical space, which shares the same or very similar security threats, risks and challenges, effective and continuous cooperation in the field of defense and security is the only real answer to these challenges and the way to achieve our particular and common strategic goals”.
Minister Helez especially thanked Banožić for the fact that he treats Bosnia and Herzegovina in a statesmanlike manner and does not come to our country “semi-announced”, as some other politicians from the region do.
Minister Banožić emphasized that Croatia supports the integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the legitimate political representation of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and condemned any secessionist ideas related to Bosnia and Herzegovina. He emphasized that Croatia will continue to strongly support Bosnia and Herzegovina on its path to full membership in NATO and the European Union, but will also assist in the further development of the interoperability and operational capabilities of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
BiH Deputy Minister of Defense for Policy and Plans Galić also expressed his satisfaction with the cooperation with the Republic of Croatia so far and asked for the possibility of further support in demining projects, but also in the increase of quotas for personnel from BiH at the War School of the Republic of Croatia. BiH Deputy Minister of Defense for Resource Management Goganović noted that cooperation with Croatia is good and that it should be continued, as well as such cooperation with Serbia, because it contributes to the development of mutual relations and peace and stability. He emphasized that the European path is important for the future of BiH and thanked Croatia for supporting it.
All the interlocutors agreed that it is important for peace and stability to continue EUFOR’s mandate in BiH, and Minister Helez asked his colleague Banožić to support efforts to further strengthen EUFOR militarily. At the meeting, it was also noted that mutual cooperation is important in facing the challenges brought to the region by the armed conflict in Ukraine, as well as in facing various hybrid and cyber threats.
