Helez and Banožić agreed on pilot training: Armed Forces will be able to extinguish fires in BiH independently

(Patria) - Within the joint session of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Government of the Republic of Croatia, the Deputy Chairperson of the Council of Ministers of BiH and the Minister of Defence of BiH Zukan Helez had a separate meeting today with the Minister of Defence of Croatia, Mario Banožić.

During the meeting, Banožić informed his colleague Helez that the Ministry of Defence of Croatia is ready to proceed with signing the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Defence of BiH and the Ministry of Defence of Croatia and the NATO Supreme Allied Command Europe, with the aim of establishing data exchange on the air situation.

During 2019, the Ministry of Defence of BiH gave its consent to the competent NATO Supreme Allied Command Europe (SHAPE), but the pandemic halted this activity.

Helez and Banožić expressed their satisfaction that the Bilateral Agreement on Cooperation between the MoD BiH and MoD RH for 2023 was signed in Sarajevo last week, with an emphasis on training cadets, non-commissioned officers, and officers from the Armed Forces of BiH at the Academy in the Republic of Croatia.

They specifically discussed the cooperation between the two ministries in responding to fires during the summer season. In this context, they agreed to prepare an agreement on training pilots from the armed forces of BiH and Croatia on firefighting procedures using UH1 and UH2 helicopters, which are operated by both the Armed Forces of BiH and the Armed Forces of Croatia.

With additional training on UH2 multi-purpose helicopters, the Armed Forces of BiH would be prepared to independently extinguish fires in Bosnia and Herzegovina using the most modern additional equipment on the UH2 helicopter, without seeking assistance from neighboring countries.

During the meeting, it was also expressed that Minister Banožić is expected to visit the Ministry of Defence of BiH at the end of September this year, which will be an additional incentive for Bosnia and Herzegovina on its path to Euro-Atlantic integration.