On the 5th October 2017 Commander EUFOR, Major General Anton Waldner, Deputy Minister of Defence of BiH Sead Jusić and Minister of Security of BiH Dragan Mektić addressed a press conference in the Ministry of Security, Sarajevo, about the upcoming “Quick Response 2017” exercise.
“Quick Response 2017” is a EUFOR-led peace support operation exercise. It will take place 11 – 15 October in the areas of Sarajevo, Pazarić and Kalinovik. This will be the first time BiH law enforcement agencies, Armed Forces of BiH and EUFOR will exercise together in realistic scenarios, in order to test their respective contingency plans.
It was stressed that the exercise was an excellent opportunity to test the level of training of the competent institutions and police agencies in BiH to respond quickly and efficiently to any security threat.
“In addition to testing the coordination of local institutions, the cooperation with international forces is also important, in this case with EUFOR, on whose support and assistance we rely in many realistic situations. Along with the testing of procedures, the exercise will help identify any impediments, and their elimination will enable actions of even greater efficiency,” Minister Mektić said.
“I would like to state that the European Union remains committed to Bosnia and Herzegovina and that, through the presence of EUFOR, it will continue supporting BiH in its endeavours to maintain a safe and secure environment, on its path towards the membership in the EU,” EUFOR Commander Waldner said.
Quick Response 2017 will increase interoperability both between EUFOR forces and the Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies. EUFOR maintains the capacity to react in any area of Bosnia and Herzegovina to any localised security challenge, if needed, and that EUFOR will maintain a mechanism whereby reserve forces may be deployed in a timely manner in order to support the BiH authorities maintain a safe and secure environment.
(Source: eufor)
