The military exercise “Combined Effort 22″ in Manjaca showed that the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AFBiH)passed the test according to NATO standards. Members of the AFBiH received an excellent rating. They were rewarded, because over the years, with their professionalism and abilities in peace missions, they have shown that the people represent the perspective. However, the reality is that the AFBiH are facing numerous problems, especially when it comes to financial as well as material and technical conditions.
Through more than 2.000 tasks, NATO evaluators assessed that 1,118 members of the AFBiH are fully combat-ready. This is a clear indication that man is a key factor in the AFBiH, said relevant Minister Sifet Podzic. He called on all authorities to raise their hands in favor when status issues of members of the AFBiH are resolved.
“I invite you to raise your hand for when the budget proposal of the Ministry of Defense comes to equip these people with modern combat equipment, technique and to continue to represent BiH in this light. The security of every country and state is number one,“ told Sifet Podzic, Minister of Defense of BiH.
They have knowledge and professionalism, but it is no secret that members of the AFBiH left the ranks due to low salaries. It’s no secret that they lack equipment, unlike their colleagues from the region.
“They are lacking in many aspects in terms of technique, weapons, basic aspects, infrastructure, and I think that this assessment should let some people know that we need to invest more in this resource called professional military personnel in BiH,“ noted Bosko Siljegovic, parliamentary military commissioner of BiH.
“I hope that this positive assessment will be an incentive for all members of the AFBiH of all ethnic, religious, regional and other backgrounds and for the state in as a whole to continue moving along a safe path that is in the interest of all of us in the interest of peace and progress,” said Selmo Cikotic, Minister of Security of BiH.
In this way, significant success was achieved in the field of defense, in the direction of Euro-Atlantic integration, according to experts. Now we are placed, as they say, in the pool of NATO forces as an equal unit. In addition to the military, the political significance is also important. Professor of international law and former soldier, representative to the NATO alliance, explains that the Presidency of BiH, by consensus, made a long-ago decision delegating the infantry battalion combat group for pool of NATO forces.
“This means to us that in this way the presidency has given consent to have one additional political decision that our forces will be in the pool of NATO forces together with NATO members, this is a giant step for BiH, towards NATO membership, until recently I was saying that if BiH is not in NATO, NATO is in BiH, this is now a direct indicator that BiH is also in NATO,“ explained Alija Kozljak, former military representative of BiH at NATO.
Therefore, the profession is clear, it is necessary to reach a political agreement to allocate sufficient material, technical and financial resources for the AFBiH. And not only because of NATO integration, but also for various security threats.
