prijava
SARAJEVO, April 21 (FENA) - Despite its obligation to carry out its essential deterrent and defense tasks and to carry out several international operations, NATO has become very active in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Former BiH military representative to NATO Alija Kožljak said in an interview with FENA, apart from measures to protect its personnel and the area where it operates, NATO has also engaged the available capabilities to assist Member States' institutions in the fight against the pandemic.
“This is primarily related to the fact that NATO is in itself an effective platform for sharing information and best practices among allies. We must emphasize that this benefit is limited for partners who do not have membership status, and thus for Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition, the established mutual solidarity between the member states ensures that they will constantly support one another during the pandemic, both through numerous NATO arrangements and bilaterally,” he said.
In that context, Kožljak states, Member States' armed forces have made available their logistics, transport and planning facilities, field hospitals, public space disinfection forces, border crossing support and the like.
“It is of particular importance in the context of the pandemic to mention the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) as NATO's main emergency response mechanism in the Euro-Atlantic area, which is explicitly intended to assist members but also partners in case of crises. It is through this center that NATO coordinates requests and offers from members and partners for assistance in order to better respond to the challenges of crises, such as the current pandemic. Thus, the recent assistance, which came to Bosnia and Herzegovina from Turkey, was actually a response to a request for assistance from our country sent to the EADRCC, to which Turkey responded, and in addition to BiH, it also provided assistance to Montenegro and North Macedonia,” he explained.
Bosnia and Herzegovina received assistance from NATO, sent from Turkey, and then US sent protective masks, but this assistance would be much greater if BiH were a NATO member, he said.
“In addition, the benefits to Bosnia and Herzegovina as a member would also be more accessible to medical professionals, hospital beds, vital medical equipment, as well as the air transportation of critical medical equipment and medical staff, and the use of medical, scientific and technological knowledge and resources, all with a view to providing innovative and as appropriate responses to the current COVID-19 pandemic,” Kožljak concluded in an interview with FENA.
(FENA) A. B.
