After two years of obstructions, running on the agenda and postponements, the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) adopted the reform programs from the Action Plan for NATO membership for 2021 and 2022 at its last session.
The mindset
Military expert and professor Berko Zecevic says that this is a good thing because of continuity, creation of preconditions for stronger cooperation with NATO through training, education, adjustment of resources and ways of functioning of the Armed Forces of BiH and the Ministry of Defense of BiH, but that the adopted documents do not prejudge admission to NATO.
”On the other hand, this shows nonsense, because when you make a program of defense reforms, then it implies that you adopt what you plan to do in the following period. Nowhere in the world does it happen that you adopt programs for two years that have already passed, but this is BiH and that shows the mental structure of the Council of Ministers, the people behind the Council of Ministers, the commission for the preparation of that document, but also the Ministry of Defense as a whole,” toldZecevic.
The fact that ministers from the Republika Srpska (RS) also voted for the proposals does not mean that there has been a change of attitude in the smaller BiH entity, adds Zecevic.
Nine months of war
Zecevic says that since the beginning of the aggression, Russia has not achieved only one goal, to replace the government in Ukraine. By occupying a large part of the country and establishing a new front line that is easier to defend, and which is ongoing, Moscow has largely achieved its war plan.
Whole world
He adds that at a certain point a truce will have to be signed, that Ukraine will not accept the occupation of its territories, but that Russia will not care about it, so the sanctions against Moscow and all the economic consequences felt by the whole world will last for years.
When asked whether BiH could have used the global situation to solve its own security challenges, Zecevic said that there was no one to do it and that at this moment we should take care to stabilize the economy so that the citizens’ existence is not threatened.
Why don’t they love their country
Internal changes will be achieved by strengthening the Federation of BiH (FBiH) and pro-Bosnian forces in BiH and by motivating the population so that at least 20 percent of the population participates in the next elections and initiates changes at the local level.
”That in two years the system of adjustment of results is eliminated, that we have new forces with a clearer attitude towards corruption, security, equality of people, strengthening of infrastructure, healthcare… And when all this is strengthened, then the overall security will also be significantly increased, and the forces which oppose BiH will significantly weaken. They don’t want to do it, the forces that want to overthrow BiH are corrupt. You shouldn’t convince someone to think like you, that’s one of the biggest problems so far, you can’t touch the integrity of an individual. Those who love the country of BiH should continue to love it, no one should be forced to do so, but those people should ask themselves how it is possible that those who were born in this country do not love their country. There is no answer to that because it is one of the rare cases in the world,” stressed Berko Zecevic.
NATO in Madrid, BiH, Moldova and Georgia, as well as Montenegro, although it is formally in NATO, were marked as potential crisis points, Avaz reports.
E.Dz.
