The reform program submitted by Bosnia-Herzegovina to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) headquarters in December last year is considered a good basis for continuing NATO-Bosnia- Herzegovina co-operation. A spokeswoman for NATO Staff in Sarajevo, Ines Kuburovic confirmed this information for Federal News Agency, adding that the document, which was sent to Brussels, was discussed at a technical level.
“NATO is looking forward to supporting Bosnia as the authorities begin to implement the reforms contained in the 2016 Program and Defense Review, and to that end, NATO Headquarters Sarajevo is at the disposal of Bosnian authorities in continuing to support defense and security sector reform,” Kuburovic added.
Kuburovic emphasized that NATO values the political dialogue with Bosnia-Herzegovina very much, and the allies will be pleased to welcome Bosnian officials at NATO headquarters to discuss NATO-Bosnia co-operation as well as regional security. As early as October 2018, Bosnia was given the green light to activate the NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) provided it submits the Annual National Plan (ANP) to the headquarters of that military-political alliance.
The document itself provoked a number of controversies and political disagreements, notably because it was opposed by political representatives of the Republika Srpska entity, calling for military neutrality, but also arguing that it would mean BiH’s commitment to NATO membership, which they strongly discarded.
