The Ministry of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has postponed a military exercise planned by the Armed Forces of BiH (AFBiH) and the Serbian Army in Manjaca from October 9th to 16th this year. The exercise was postponed due to the epidemiological situation.
“We regret the cancellation, given that we have been jointly planning this exercise for more than six months. The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Serbia remains a partner to BiH and Republika Srpska (RS), with the desire to achieve joint activities in the future,” it was announced by the Serbian Ministry of Defense.
As it was found out unofficially, the Ministry of Defense of BiH has postponed this exercise due to the small number of vaccinated members of the AFBiH.
This year’s tactical exercise “Manjaca 2021” is planned at the training ground on Manjaca, which should be an indicator of the development of good bilateral cooperation between the Ministries of Defense of BiH and Serbia, as was emphasized at the meeting of Ministers Sifet Podzic and Nebojsa Stefanovic last month.
This was supposed to be the first exercise of these two armies on the territory of BiH, although their cooperation is long-term within other programs and missions.
Even though the exercise was postponed due to the epidemiological situation, BiH Presidency member Milorad Dodik reacted by accusing Minister Sifet Podzic of unauthorized cancellation of the exercise.
“Podzic neither addressed nor consulted with the Presidency of BiH. It is obvious that he consulted with Dzaferovic and Komsic since I cannot believe that he himself should be allowed to do something like that,” noted Dodik.
He announced the filing of criminal charges against Podzic, who, as he said, does not deserve, nor will he have any confidence in any decision that the Ministry of Defense proposes to the Presidency of BiH.
Although he did not attend previous military exercises of the AFBiH, such as the last one with the United States (U.S.) Army, Dodik intended to be present at Manjaca when Serbian soldiers arrived, which is why such a harsh reaction is coming now, even though the exercise was canceled for justified reasons, Klix.ba writes.
E.Dz.
