Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Minister of Defense Zukan Helez and Great Britain’s Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina Julian Reilly today officially opened the renovated guard facility in the “Rajlovac” barracks of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The opening of the renovated facility is the result of a donation from Great Britain, which was implemented as part of the project “Women, peace and security” in the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Helez thanked the Embassy of Great Britain, which financed the renovation works and which has been providing a significant contribution to defense reform and equipping the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina for years.
“The renovation of the guard building and the establishment of a technical protection system in the “Rajlovac” barracks are only part of the numerous projects to improve the capacities of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina that were financed by our friends from Great Britain,” said Helez and took the opportunity to congratulate King Charles on his birthday.
Ambassador Reilly pointed out that the upgrades carried out in the barracks prove that modern technology can increase the safety and efficiency of military facilities as a key part of the state’s infrastructure.
“I hope that the British Embassy has proven its commitment in supporting the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina over the past few years by investing more than one million pounds through the “Women, Peace and Security” network of the Chief of Defense and more than two million pounds in key infrastructure projects, and we will not stop here” , Reilly stated.
The Chief of the Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of BiH, Lieutenant General Gojko Knežević, emphasized that today there are 875 women serving side by side with men in the Armed Forces of BiH, who make up 10.4 percent of the total personnel.
“Our intention is to improve the living and working conditions of women and men at military locations, preferably at locations where they stay 24 hours a day, in order to make our members more satisfied and improve the interest of potential new members,” said Knežević and thanked the British Embassy for support.
British Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Stuart Peach, also attended the ceremony, who underlined that today’s ceremony is a small step on the road to modernization and reform of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that he was impressed that the project was realized by the joint work of the military and civil sectors in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Fena writes.