BiH Reform Program to be Sent to NATO Tomorrow

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The BiH Reform Program is expected to be sent to NATO headquarters in Brussels tomorrow, according to a prior agreement reached by the BiH Presidency that the document would be sent the day after Zoran Tegeltija's appointment as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH. Initially, it was supposed to be the Annual National Programme (ANP) for NATO, but due to obstruction from SNSD and Milorad Dodik, who opposes BiH's entry into NATO, the document's name was changed. The document has not yet been presented to the public, but according to statements from BiH Presidency members Željko Komšić and Šefik Džaferović, it is acceptable to NATO partners as well. 

The Minister of Defence of BiH, Marina Pendeš (HDZ BiH), sent a statement from her party's headquarters today, stating that the continuation of cooperation between Bosnia and Herzegovina and its international partners, primarily NATO, is of utmost importance.

“It is certain that the process of cooperation with NATO, which has had a positive dynamic in recent years, was somewhat stalled due to the political crisis in the last 13 months and the failure to form the Council of Ministers of BiH after the General Elections in 2018. With the latest political agreements, BiH retains its NATO perspective, and through the cooperation plan with NATO via the Reform Program, we are continuing the mutual relations and partnership we have been building for years. I expect the document 'BiH Reform Program' to be helpful to everyone, but primarily to the defence institutions in BiH in terms of strengthening operational capabilities, capacities, and possibilities for executing legally defined tasks,” Pendeš emphasized.

Pendeš stressed that the political agreement on the document 'BiH Reform Program' and its submission to NATO headquarters should by no means be viewed through the prism of 'winner - loser', because the winners of the entire process should be Bosnia and Herzegovina, and all its peoples and citizens.