What Issue is to be discussed on the Joint Commission for Defense and Security of BiH?

The next session of the Joint Commission for Defense and Security of Parliamentary Assembly will include Information of the Ministry of Defense about the document “Defense Review with the Conclusion of the Presidency of Bih of 13^th December 2016″. This document should facilitate the activation of the Membership Action Plan (MAP) of NATO.

In early February, the Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg, will come to visit BiH. The aim of the visit is to present the results achieved in the process of accession of BiH to NATO.

After the last meeting with the Secretary General, BiH Presidency member from the Bosniak people Bakir Izetbegovic, said that the MAP will be activated at the beginning of this year.

Mario Karamatić, a member of the Joint Commission for Defense and Security, said that there is nothing controversial in the Defense Review.

“Ministry of Defense operates, and political tensions that have been raised about it are solely political. The fact is that the Armed Forces of BiH consist of three components and that the situation in the Armed Forces is improving compared how they were before,” said Karamatić.

Moreover, he adds that the key question is whether the politics in our country will stop a positive trend and further modernization of the Armed Forces. As for the activation of MAP, he said that expectations made by Bakir Izetbegovic are realistic.

“However, the most important thing is if there is the political will. One of the conditions of activation of MAP is the registration of non-perspective military property. Unfortunately, we have a problem with the non-perspective military property in the Republika Srpska, where the municipalities do not want to register the property. To conclude, the previously mentioned does not depend on the Commission for defense and security, and on Bakir Izetbegovic, but only on the government of RS, “adds Karamatić.

In recent months, a lot has been written on the abolition of the Military Intelligence Service of Armed Forces of BiH. Regarding this issue, Karamatić points out that the military intelligence service must be part of the Ministry of Defence, and not the part of another ministry.

“Military intelligence Service of Armed Forces deals with military-intelligence work, not civil work such as Intelligence and Security Service (OSA) of BiH. In my opinion, abolition is not acceptable at all”, concluded Karamatić.