Ivanić responds to Dodik: The Presidency did not adopt the plan of military exercises for 2019

Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina from Republika Srpska Mladen Ivanić stated that the Presidency of BiH neither considered nor adopted the Plan of International Military Exercises for 2019, so the NATO exercise at the Manjača training ground, in May 2019, cannot be held without the adoption of the plan, it is stated in the letter he sent to the president of the BiH entity Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik, regarding his yesterday's letter concerning this military exercise.

- The Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina has not received an official notification from the Ministry of Defense of BiH regarding the said military exercise, so I must regretfully state that you do not have accurate information regarding the alleged presence of my associates and envoys at the meeting mentioned in your letter. In order to avoid any possible misunderstanding, I wish to forward to you, in good faith, the information obtained from the competent authorities of the Ministry of Defense of BiH, which relate to the preparations for the implementation of the M2M event - a joint exercise of the Armed Forces of BiH and the Maryland National Guard („Air Ground Integration Exercise 2019“).

In the Ministry of Defense of BiH, so far only one preparatory meeting has been held on the topic of holding the said military exercise, at which representatives of the Armed Forces of BiH raised certain objections to the proposed content of the military exercise, which, among other things, relate to the location of the military exercise, the use of ammunition, A 10 aircraft and other resources. If you need more detailed information about the objections raised, I am convinced that you can obtain them from the Ministry of Defense of BiH.

I myself, as well as the competent authorities of the Armed Forces of BiH, consider the use of depleted uranium ammunition unacceptable. I am convinced that no institution of BiH would support that. Also, on our part, we will endeavor to obtain the consent of the civilian structures on whose territory the said military exercise is planned to be held - Ivanić stated.