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SARAJEVO, December 1 (FENA) - The Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina were established 15 years ago and it was one of the successful reforms carried out in BiH after the war that ravaged the country in the ‘90s.
With the adoption of the Law on Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the Law on Military Service in the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 15 years ago the process of establishing professional and trained personnel for various activities of the Armed Forces of BiH began.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic and the prevention of the spread of the virus, the Ministry of Defense of BiH and the Armed Forces of BiH organized a ceremony to celebrate the Day of the Armed Forces of BiH on December 1, with a limited number of attendees.
Members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Šefik Džaferović and Željko Komšić, and the Minister of Defense of BiH, Sifet Podžić, lined up the honorary platoon before the beginning of the solemn ceremony marking the 15th anniversary of the Armed Forces of BiH.
On behalf of the Presidency of BiH, as the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of BiH, Komšić congratulated the 15th anniversary of the Armed Forces of BiH, saying that the adoption of the necessary legal solutions enabled the formation of the Armed Forces in which everyone can be included, regardless of ethnicity or religion.
He pointed out that BiH soldiers have shown their ability for the greatest challenges in peacekeeping missions of the United Nations and NATO, where they participated in very complex and demanding tasks, which led to them receiving high marks in these supranational organizations.
In particular, he says, we should proudly point out the adoption of the Reform Program of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a continuation of activities from 2009, when BiH officially requested inclusion in the MAP system in NATO, i.e. the Action Plan for membership in that organization.
As of December 5, 2018, the North Atlantic Council, as the decision-making body in NATO, has approved BiH's full participation in the MAP, inviting the country to submit its first Annual National Program. This was done by submitting a Reform Program, which contains all five chapters, with the structure and elements as required by NATO from all participants in the MAP.
This unlocked the activities on the reform of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which are related to modernization and staffing according to NATO standards, so that the Armed Forces would be even better and of better quality, organized and equipped.
Komšić congratulated the BiH Armed Forces and the BiH Ministry of Defense on fulfilling more than 70 percent of the activities from the Reform Program of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in difficult circumstances, not only political, but also those caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Fulfillment of these activities legitimizes BiH for the submission of the next Reform Program, which we will submit to the NATO headquarters in the coming period,” said Komšić.
This process is very important for BiH, he noted, because in addition to the military, meeting the criteria for NATO also means establishing full rule of law, protecting the human rights of all BiH citizens at the individual level, reforming the judicial system, increasing transparency and fighting organized crime. and corruption.
“All these processes are complementary to the reforms required of us by the European Union, in order to achieve candidate status through these reforms, and after that the opening of negotiations on various chapters, within the new methodology for admission of countries to the European Union,” he said.
As he concluded, the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, despite a number of difficulties, primarily in financial terms, have been making continuous progress year in and year out, and are proving to be a grenade for state stability and protection of the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Minister of Defense Sifet Podžić concluded that the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces are an example that BiH can be a successful state when there is a consensus and the necessary level of political will to accept European and world standards.
The ceremony was attended by a small number of representatives of the authorities in BiH and international organizations, as well as members of the military-diplomatic corps.
(FENA) L. N.
