US Embassy on NATO exercise: Fabricated stories by some politicians aimed at intimidation must stop

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Some politicians continue to use the fabricated story about the so-called "NATO exercise" to scare the citizens of BiH, despite our continuous efforts to provide accurate and timely information about the exercise. The US Embassy strongly rejects all speculations and claims about this exercise, Patria reports.

- As we have stated on several occasions, as part of the continuous, close cooperation between BiH and the United States in the field of security, the Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC) of the US Embassy and the Maryland National Guard are currently working with the Ministry of Defense of BiH and the Armed Forces of BiH to prepare a recommendation for the Presidency of BiH for the approval of a bilateral exercise between the Maryland National Guard and the Armed Forces of BiH (AF BiH) to be held in 2019.

If an agreement is reached, this activity will be very similar to previous exercises conducted throughout BiH and the region as part of the State Partnership Program in Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Croatia, and Slovenia. No activity within this exercise will involve the use of depleted uranium or live ammunition. During exercises of this type, training ammunition that is not harmful to the environment is used.

As always when it comes to such exercises, we cooperate closely with relevant institutions to define the details of the activity, which includes this week's meetings between officers from the Office of Defense Cooperation of the US Embassy, the Maryland National Guard, and their BiH colleagues.

This activity is part of a long-standing cooperation between the United States and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which includes the partnership between the Maryland National Guard and the Armed Forces of BiH, which has been extremely beneficial for both BiH and the US throughout all 16 years of its existence.