Osmić: BiH's entry into NATO will be decided by domestic institutions and NATO, not Serbia

Regarding the statement of the BiH Presidency Chairman Mladen Ivanić that "BiH can enter NATO only if and when Serbia joins that Alliance", the Vice-President of the Social Democratic Party of BiH and former Minister of Defence Zekerijah Osmić believes that the entry of our country into NATO must be decided exclusively by the institutions of BiH and the NATO alliance, and not by the institutions of Serbia, reports the Patria News Agency.

-The ruling coalition promised a faster path to NATO, and now we see that we are actually condemned to the will of Serbia and its Government. Such views are worrying and must be condemned.

The Chairman of the BiH Presidency must conduct policy in accordance with the interests of BiH, and not in accordance with the interests of others. It seems that Ivanić has forgotten that two other constituent peoples live in our country, as well as those who declare themselves as Others. Therefore, the logical question arises whether their interests are also threatened by the fact that individuals in BiH must wait for permission from Belgrade for every more serious decision related to the future of our country.

During my mandate as Minister of Defence, we started the process of registering military property, which is one of the main conditions for launching the Membership Action Plan for NATO and one of the clearly defined priorities of my mandate. It is obvious that there are evident differences in the new ruling coalition at the state level regarding this issue, which will most severely affect the European future of BiH.

I hereby call on Ivanić not to use the interests of BiH and its institutions to show that he is more Dodik than Dodik, Osmić stated in his statement, as announced by the SDPBiH.