The visit of the chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denis Bećirović, to the headquarters of NATO sent a message that our country is at the door of the NATO alliance. Some again saw the statement of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg as an invitation for cooperation, but not membership. Currently, there is no political consensus in our country on the issue of BiH’s membership in NATO. Republika Srpska does not support NATO integration, but they support cooperation with NATO in accordance with the Reform Program adopted by the BiH Presidency in 2019.
“Let’s finish this story once and for all. Let me tell you in the Serbian language and in a language that we all understand, there is nothing from NATO,” claims BiH security minister Nenad Nešić.
“We are certainly closer to NATO than before”, emphasizes the BiH Foreign Minister Elmedin Konaković.
“Bosnia and Herzegovina needs NATO more than the European Union”, believes Ilija Cvitanović, HDZ president in 1990.
These three statements briefly represent the picture of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s path to NATO. With these attitudes, it is difficult to understand where BiH is on the way to the NATO alliance. But it is clear what the Law prescribes and what reforms are set before Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“In this regard, I only have to give advice to both of them. Both of them should adhere to the Law on the Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where Article 84 prescribes what, who, how and in what way should work in Bosnia and Herzegovina Herzegovina to become a full member of the NATO alliance,” says Zlatko Miletić (For new generations).
In the Ministry of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the position is that our country is on the last step before being invited to full membership.
“The representatives of the NATO alliance have noticed our progress and we should already have candidate status at the spring session. This is something new that is being introduced and it is one step closer to NATO membership,” said BiH Defense Minister Zukan Helez.
“Significant reforms and significant strides have been made by Bosnia and Herzegovina. That this is true is also confirmed by NATO’s latest decision that for the first time the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina will be invited to participate in the NATO response forces. I think this is a very good indicator of where Bosnia and Herzegovina is now and in which direction it is moving irreversibly, which is NATO membership,” believes Alija Kožljak, the former military representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina to NATO.
While the minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina introduces the NATO alliance, his deputy explains that Bosnia and Herzegovina does not have a political position on NATO membership, and until a unified position is reached, it will not be able to join this alliance. On the other hand, Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted a reform program that means cooperation, but not membership.
“The NATO alliance itself confirmed that the Reform Program does not predict membership in the NATO alliance, and when we load the Reform Program we clearly see that it is about cooperation and not NATO integration. I would like to mention that the Commission for NATO Integration changed its name to the Commission for Cooperation with NATO – and that the ministers from among the Croat and Bosniak people voted for the change. With that vote, when they agreed to change the name of the commission, they accepted, in accordance with the Reform Program, from the path of NATO integration to cooperation,” says Aleksandar Goganović, deputy Minister of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Bosnia and Herzegovina started accession negotiations with the NATO alliance in 2006 by signing the Partnership for Peace. In 2019, the BiH Presidency signed the ANP or Reform Program, which it submitted to the NATO headquarters, thereby committing itself to fulfilling the obligations set by the NATO alliance. Our country participates in joint exercises, has active communication and NATO headquarters in Sarajevo, BHRT writes.
