Events on the global geopolitical scene motivate neighbors to allocate more money for defense. However, Bosnia and Herzegovina is also at the very bottom of that list. Compared to neighboring Serbia, it spent nine times less money on weapons and military equipment. All this thanks to the political disunity due to which there is not even a consensus regarding the spare parts of the equipment that should be provided. Not to mention the reserve composition of the Armed Forces and the NATO path.
“There will be much more investment in the army than planned in the budget,” announced the President of Serbia. The complete equipping of the air defense system is coming to an end, which, according to him, will represent an extremely big problem for any potential aggressor.
“What the Americans have done in Kosovo, what they have given 246 modern anti-armor systems, will only develop the arms race, especially in Serbia, which will now go further,” emphasized security expert Nedžad Ahatović.
From 2014 to 2023, Serbia spent 2.87 billion dollars on weapons and military equipment. Last year alone, it spent one billion and 510 million dollars for these purposes, which is the largest amount in its recent history. Besides Serbia, which is in third place in the region, Romania and Hungary buy the most weapons. Followed by Bulgaria, Croatia, Albania, North Macedonia and Montenegro. The last is Bosnia and Herzegovina with only 15 million dollars of purchased weapons.
“BiH should pay more attention to modern technical means. Of course, it may not be possible for us to acquire modern airplanes, but we can acquire equipment for the production of drones or other equipment that does not require such a large investment”, says security expert Nedžad Korajlić.
Investing in the security system is not a luxury but a necessity, according to interlocutors. Long-term political disputes, however, are holding back reforms on that path.
“With the help of Turkey, the Ministry of Defense renewed its vehicle fleet with a tank and transporter. They enabled the operational use of those that were not in operational condition due to the lack of spare parts because we cannot even agree on that,” Ahatović added.
And in proportion to the wars raging in the world, potential threats to national security are also growing. In that part, Bosnia and Herzegovina relies quite heavily on NATO’s help, while at the same time, the NATO headquarters in Sarajevo expects state institutions and the Ministry of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina to soon submit a reform program so that Bosnia and Herzegovina does not fall behind in cooperation with the Alliance.
“NATO is present there and they will try to prevent any attack on BiH, but we ourselves must have certain resources that would be sufficient for our defense”, emphasized Korajlić.
We remind you that at the end of 2005, with the votes of the ruling majority from Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted the Law on the Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which in Article 84 talks about the membership of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Alliance.
“The Parliamentary Assembly, the Council of Ministers of BiH, the Presidency, as well as all defense entities, within their own constitutional and legal competence, will implement the necessary activities for the admission of BiH to NATO membership,” it was stated.
Article 82, however, also states that no entity or state authority can annul this decision, that is, it can only be annulled by amendments to the Law on Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the state Parliament, N1 writes.
