On occasion of his departure from BiH, the former Commander of NATO headquarters in Sarajevo Brigadier General Walter T. Lord gave an interview for INFOBIRO, where he said that he promised himself to return to BiH as a tourist and at the ceremony for BiH’s accession to NATO.
Speaking of impressions, General Lord said that during the visit to Tuzla 10 years ago, he saw that this was a very beautiful country, that people are very open, warm, and that he would certainly miss it when he returns home.
“From the military side, I was positively surprised by the issue of the BiH Armed Forces and Ministry of Defense. The Minister is very committed to identifying and resolving problems within the Ministry, and working with the Armed Forces was a very pleasant experience. When I was in BiH 10 years ago, we had two armies, the FBIH Army and the RS Army, and they did not cooperation much with one another, and neither with the international community. Today we have a united Armed Forces and what is important is that they work and train together, and what is most important is that they go together to UN Missions and NATO’’, said Lord.
He added that the BiH Armed Forces were extremely successful in meeting NATO standards, and that during his stay here they numbered around 10.000 members, and of that number around 1.000 were in UN or NATO Missions.
“When they come to the field and when they are deployed in a mission, they impress NATO commanders every time. Now they have the support of the US, when we speak about logistics and of equipment. This is really an area that must be improved. There are problems in logistics, in equipment and in this area great strides and improvements must be made. This is a complicated question, centrally managed logistics and I can say that the issue of corruption appears, and to be honest, incompetency. When this is resolved, foreign help will no longer be needed, which would meet NATO standards’’, said Lord.
Commenting on the discrepancy between BiH politicians when it comes to the NATO integration process and the failure to meet the last condition for MAP activation, General Lord said that this is probably one of the issues that frustrated him the most in the last year as a NATO commander in BiH.
“Political leaders said that this issue would be solved soon. When the General Secretary was here on a visit last time, he met with six political leaders and they told him then that the solution to this issue would be accelerated, but they did not have the courage to look him in the eyes and tell him that the conditions for resolving it are conditional. I would add that, while political discussions are ongoing, the Ministry of Defense has done everything necessary with the help of NATO headquarters in Sarajevo regarding technical preparations’’, said Lord.
According to his opinion, the core values for BiH citizens are a safe and stable environment, quality education for their children, a fair justice system, and law and order.
When asked the next time he would visit BiH, official or private, he answered that he would no doubt return, most probably as a tourist, and added that this country will not need a General at the head of NATO for much longer due to the progress that has been made here by the Armed Forces.
“When will I come? I will come to celebrate the accession of BIH to NATO and I swore this to myself and to my friends. Of course I would like to see other things such as an increase in direct foreign investment, to see a transparent political system that will be held accountable to citizens and not to politicians and political parties, a good legal and judicial system, all that contributes to integration, Euro Atlantic integration, EU integration and NATO, overall progress and development’’, said General Lord.
(Source: Fena)
