NATO Summit on Wednesday and Thursday, again no word on BiH

BRUSSELS, (Patria) – A NATO summit will be held in Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday. According to the schedule of the two-day meeting, published on the official NATO website, Bosnia and Herzegovina will again not be on the agenda of the meeting of the leaders of the Alliance member states, writes the Patria news agency.

Although the BiH authorities have been promising for eight years that Bosnia and Herzegovina's Action Plan for Membership will be activated, this has not happened yet. The activation of the MAP was announced by the presidents of the ruling parties HDZ BiH and SDA, Dragan Čović and Bakir Izetbegović, as well as the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH, Denis Zvizdić. 

In June 2015, during a meeting with the European Parliament rapporteur Cristian Dan Preda, he expressed expectations that the MAP would be activated by the end of that year.

Zvizdić also stated the following year that most of the military property would be registered to the state of BiH by the end of that year, which would lead to the activation of the MAP for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“We consider this credible progress, and certainly the fulfillment of the conditions that should lead to the activation of the MAP for BiH,” said Zvizdić, emphasizing that he hopes it will happen at the NATO meeting at the end of 2016.

Dragan Čović told the media that the MAP would be activated at the NATO summit in Warsaw in mid-2017.

“I am convinced that we will activate the Action Plan for BiH’s membership in the NATO alliance in Warsaw in a month. This would be a special position for BiH in this year when we want to make a strong step forward in foreign policy,” Čović said in July 2016.

“I cannot say exactly when it will happen, but that the MAP will be activated for BiH, that is for sure,” announced the Minister of Defense of BiH, Marina Pendeš, in 2017.

SDA President Bakir Izetbegović also announced the activation of the MAP for BiH

“Despite constant crises and an unstable coalition, a step towards EU integration has been made. The EC questionnaire is almost completed after a long silence from RS. The questionnaire will be submitted in January 2018, and the activation of the MAP is also expected,” Izetbegović said at the party’s New Year’s conference. 

What is MAP?

The accession of new members to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is regulated by Article 10 of the Washington Treaty (1994). At the NATO summit held in Washington in 1999, the Membership Action Plan (MAP) was adopted with the aim of assisting countries wishing to become members of the Alliance. The Membership Action Plan is a program of assistance, practical support, and advice intended to prepare countries for NATO membership. This plan is adapted to the needs of the respective country, but participation in it does not guarantee that it will ultimately receive the green light for membership. According to the Membership Action Plan, a country wishing to become a member prepares its annual state program, which it presents to NATO. At the end of the annual cycle, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense present the results of the reform program and future activities before the North Atlantic Council of NATO, which then assesses the individual progress in preparations for membership. Preparations and reforms include five areas: political and economic, defense and military, financial, security, and legal issues. 

Currently, Macedonia is preparing for NATO membership through the Membership Action Plan. The Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted a conclusion on June 10, 2009, to submit a formal request for Bosnia and Herzegovina to join the Membership Action Plan, and the request was officially submitted on October 2, 2009, but the country has not moved forward since then.

In order to get the MAP activated, Bosnia and Herzegovina needs to register the armed forces facilities to the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The BiH entity of Republika Srpska refuses to register these facilities to the state, stating that this property belongs exclusively to the entity. The stance of most political parties from Republika Srpska is that Bosnia and Herzegovina should not join NATO as long as Serbia remains unaligned on this issue.