Bosnia and Herzegovina could become "Ukraine 2" if politicians don't meet NATO conditions

The Russian Federation's opinion that Euro-Atlantic integration is not the only perspective for Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is why it did not support this paragraph, should be a loud alarm for BiH politicians to fulfill the conditions set by the international community as soon as possible for BiH to become a member of NATO and ultimately a member of the European Union (EU), analysts warn, because, they believe, it is not excluded that BiH could face a scenario similar to the one that happened in Ukraine and which is still devastating this country in Eastern Europe, writes the BiH news agency Patria (NAP).

If the Ukrainian scenario were to occur in Bosnia and Herzegovina, experts further warn, Western powers would not have a mechanism to help BiH, as the country is not a member of international security organizations that would protect it.

Denis Hadžović, Secretary General of the Center for Security Studies (CSS) from Sarajevo, told the BiH news agency Patria that no one can guarantee security and stability for BiH until domestic politicians fulfill the conditions set by the international community, and until the country becomes a member of the NATO alliance. In the situation BiH is currently in, Western powers have almost no mechanism to help BiH if conflict situations were to arise.

- The current status quo in BiH gives reason to fear that similar scenes to those we are witnessing in Ukraine could occur in BiH – Hadžović told NAP, adding that this is most contributed to by the enormous dissatisfaction of citizens due to the country's political, economic, and social instability.

- No one even thought that conflicts could occur in Ukraine, yet they did – Hadžović reminded.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has received strong support from Western powers on its path to Euro-Atlantic integration, and it is now up to BiH politicians to seize that opportunity.

To that end, the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) met at the level of political directors in Sarajevo on December 9 and 10, 2014, to reaffirm its vision and firm commitment to a stable, democratic, and prosperous Bosnia and Herzegovina with more functional institutions, reports Patria.

In the part of the communiqué adopted yesterday at the PIC session, the Russian Federation expressed its opinion that Euro-Atlantic integration is not the only perspective for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and therefore its representative did not support that part of this important document.