US Government Donates 20 Humvee Motor Vehicles to BiH Armed Forces

(Patria) - A formal handover ceremony for 20 high-mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicles (HMMWV) "Humvee" type M1152, donated by the United States Government to the BiH Ministry of Defence, was held at the "Rajlovac" barracks near Sarajevo.

The ceremony was attended by the BiH Minister of Defence Marina Pendeš, Chief of the Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of BiH Lieutenant General Senad Mašović, with his deputies Lieutenant General Ivica Jerkić and Lieutenant General Gojko Knežević, Assistant Minister of Defence for International Cooperation Zoran Šajinović, as well as other high-ranking representatives of the MoD and AF BiH. Representing the donor - the US Government - was US Ambassador to BiH Eric Nelson with representatives of the US Embassy in BiH. The value of the donated vehicles is approximately 2.85 million dollars, and this completes the previous donation of 24 identical vehicles, delivered in March 2017.

"This donation," emphasized Minister Pendeš, "confirms that the US most comprehensively and concretely supports the BiH Ministry of Defence and our Armed Forces. This will significantly contribute to our efforts towards interoperability and take us a step further in fulfilling the set partnership goals. We in the Ministry of Defence are particularly committed to achieving full interoperability with NATO. This is part of the overall efforts to contribute to the achievement of the primary foreign policy goal, the integration of our country into Euro-Atlantic structures."

Ambassador Nelson emphasized that any unit of the AF BiH using Humvee vehicles immediately becomes interoperable with the forces of up to 12 NATO member states that use these vehicles. He stressed that the vehicles can also be successfully used in operations to assist citizens and civilian structures in various weather conditions.

"The US is proud to be able to help its NATO partner - Bosnia and Herzegovina. We hope to deliver more vehicles and other equipment in the coming years," concluded Ambassador Nelson. Thanking the US government for this assistance, Lieutenant General Senad Mašović announced that the delivery of another 16 such vehicles is expected in the coming period, bringing their total number in the AF BiH to 60.