Progress on the NATO Path

By Tamir Waser, Political Advisor at the U.S. Mission to NATO and former Head of the Political Section at the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo

Seven days before the deadline - November 30, the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted the Defense Review, which provides guidelines for the future number of soldiers and the structure of the Armed Forces of BiH (AF BiH) and defines a plan for the modernization of AF BiH.

This week, the foreign ministers of NATO member states pledged the Alliance's assistance in implementing these reforms. This may sound like diplomatic jargon that means nothing, but these two steps represent real progress on Bosnia and Herzegovina's path to the NATO alliance.
  
The Defense Review was a topic during some of my first meetings when I arrived at the Embassy in Sarajevo in 2011. For five years afterward, all the issues that too often hinder reforms in BiH – conflicting agendas, internal disagreements, bureaucratic inertia – slowed progress on this issue. In the end, however, the members of the Presidency and the leadership of the Ministry of Defense reached a compromise – probably no one got everything they wanted, but together they reached a consensus that is good for BiH in setting realistic guidelines for the future regarding the size and structure of the Armed Forces.

During my stay in BiH and in the years after, I also heard that BiH's path to the NATO alliance was "blocked" due to the Tallinn condition on the registration of military property. That argument, however, ignores the fact that in 2010, Bosnia and Herzegovina was admitted to the Membership Action Plan in Tallinn and recognized as a country officially seeking to become a member of NATO. What BiH is currently unable to do is submit its Annual National Plan (ANP). What is the ANP? It is a plan by which a country commits to implementing a series of NATO-related reforms that ensure the country meets NATO standards in its defense and security structures and is committed to the alliance's values.

After the Defense Review was completed with significant consultations with the NATO Headquarters in Sarajevo and after the foreign ministers agreed to provide support for its implementation, BiH will be able to work on defense and security reforms to meet NATO standards, which it would implement as part of the Annual National Plan. In other words, the path is not blocked, and the focus will now shift to transforming the content of the Defense Review into concrete, necessary reforms – and NATO will help with that.

In addition, NATO is considering ways to further politically engage BiH to reaffirm the fact that a consensus has been reached at the state level regarding the future of AF BiH and that serious activities are being undertaken to resolve outstanding issues within AF BiH.

This is in line with NATO's continued engagement in the region, including the historic and cordial meeting of Serbian Prime Minister Vučić with the North Atlantic Council last month, Montenegro's invitation to join NATO last year, as well as our continued role in Kosovo.

More than 20 years ago, NATO made a commitment to the people of the Western Balkans – to help maintain peace, support reforms, remain open to new members from the region – in line with the declared priorities of those countries. As NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg emphasized this week, speaking about the Western Balkans, "we must do more to support reforms and stability, through more political dialogue and practical cooperation, and with even closer cooperation with the European Union, because stability in the Western Balkans brings more stability to Europe." This week's decision that NATO will help BiH implement the Defense Review is in line with that commitment; BiH has taken an important step, and NATO has responded with concrete support.

 I personally hope that there will be more such steps in the future.