The delegation of the Ministry of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina, led by Deputy Minister for Policy and Planning Slaven Galić and Deputy Minister of Defense for Resource Management Aleksandar Goganović, received today a delegation with members of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE) headed by Gheorghe-Vlad Nistor.
The meeting discussed the activities of the MoD and the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina with a focus on the EUFOR mission, as well as the European Union’s support for Bosnia and Herzegovina with donations from the European Peace Fund (EPF).
Deputy Minister Slaven Galić, after the opening words of welcome, stated that BiH, like the rest of Europe and the world, has already been going through challenging times caused by the war in Ukraine for a full year, which have an evident negative impact on European and world security, noting that the MoD of BiH for this reason grateful for the EU donations which greatly help to strengthen the capacities.
Also, Deputy Minister for Resource Management Goganović thanked for the first and second tranches of aid approved by the Council of the EU from the European Peace Fund in the amount of 10 + 10 million euros for strengthening the operational capabilities of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which will be useful in many ways for carrying out legally assigned missions.
The excellent cooperation with EUFOR, which, as part of its mandate and mission of strengthening a safe and stable environment, helps with its expertise in the destruction of surplus weapons and ammunition, was also emphasized.
The head of the EU delegation, Gheorghe-Vlad Nistor, stated that the reason for the visit to the BiH MoD was to create a clearer picture of the real challenges that have a direct impact on the security of BiH and the region. “Bosnia and Herzegovina represents an important link in the entire region, and due to the current situation in Europe, it is important that we see what else we as European parliamentarians can do to ensure a safe environment,” Nistor added.
Subsequently, Deputy Galić emphasized that the defense institutions were very shaken by the unforeseeable consequences of the earthquake in the Republic of Turkey and Syria, adding that the MoD of Bosnia and Herzegovina reacted immediately by sending members of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who carried out a seven-day humanitarian search and rescue mission in the most severely affected areas in R to Turkey.
At the end of the meeting, Deputy Galić thanked once again for the decision on candidate status for BiH and the readiness to work together to fulfill the criteria and obtain the conditions for full membership of BiH in the EU.
After this meeting, the delegation of the European Parliament plans to visit the demining battalion of the Armed Forces of BiH as well as the capacities of the Armed Forces of BiH, with the aim of getting to know the operational capabilities of the Armed Forces of BiH units that are the “end beneficiaries” of the EU peace fund donation, which will be implemented from 2022, the Office of Relations announced. with the public of the Ministry of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
