The official handover of specialized off-road vehicles donated for the needs of the Military Police of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina was held at the “Rajlovac” barracks of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The donation was made possible by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia within the framework of NATO’s Defense Capabilities Initiative (DCBI).
“Since the establishment of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AF BiH), Slovenia has been an important partner in defense reform and strengthening our capacities, and its support continues today,” said the Minister of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zukan Helez.
The BiH Minister especially thanked Slovenia for the selfless support, a “proven friend of BiH”, which donated four fully equipped specialized off-road vehicles for the Military Police of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Helez also thanked the Minister of Defense of Slovenia Borut Sajovic and the Government of Slovenia for, as the leading nation, implementing this project and donating AED devices and providing training, thereby improving the life-saving capacities of the AF BiH.
The Minister of Defense of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Sajovic, emphasized that Slovenia remains a committed partner to Bosnia and Herzegovina and that through the NATO DCBI initiative, it provides concrete and permanent support to improving the security environment and strengthening stability in the region.
“These vehicles are the best vehicles for the military police, and we also use them in the Slovenian army. They can be used for all missions in the country, but also in peacekeeping missions around the world,” he concluded.
The representative of the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Piers Cazalet, Director for Defense and Security Cooperation, believes that NATO is committed to a partnership with Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“The Republic of Slovenia is the first NATO member to deliver assistance within the framework of NATO’s DCBI package. Such specialized off-road vehicles will strengthen the mobility and capabilities of the Military Police of the Armed Forces of BiH,” he said, stating that this is an example to other partners in the Alliance of how to support this initiative to strengthen the defense capabilities of BiH.
The Slovenian Minister began his official visit to BiH this morning with a meeting at the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense of BiH in Sarajevo.
Assistant Minister of Defense of BiH for International Cooperation Zoran Šajinović and Slovenian Military Attaché in BiH Brigadier Tadej Burgar signed the Bilateral Cooperation Plan between the BiH and Slovenian MoDs for 2025, which includes nine different joint activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina and 11 activities in Slovenia.
In the discussions that followed, the interlocutors exchanged views on the security situation in Europe and the world and emphasized the importance of the EUFOR mission in BiH for peace and stability of the entire region.
Both sides emphasized mutual assistance in situations of natural disasters, such as the floods in BiH in 2014, when members of the Slovenian army came to help in the rehabilitation of the consequences in BiH, and the floods in Slovenia, when the AF BiH sent an engineering unit as assistance, which remained in the best memory of the local population of Slovenia.
“We are strong partners, but given the historical circumstances, I can freely say that we are also brothers. That is why we will always be available to Bosnia and Herzegovina to help it on its Euro-Atlantic path,” said Sajovic.
During the talks, members of the Slovenian delegation invited representatives of the BiH Ministry of Defense to the international military exhibition, which is being held for the first time in Celje, Slovenia, in October. They also highlighted some of Slovenia’s strengths in the production of unmanned aerial vehicles, and Helez expressed his belief that various products of the BiH military industry could also be of interest to the Slovenian military, AA writes.
