BiH's NATO Entry Depends Solely on Appellate Court Ruling, Hoyt Yee Urges Faster Reforms

Activation of the Membership Action Plan (MAP) for Bosnia and Herzegovina in NATO depends solely on the ruling of the Appellate Chamber of the Court of BiH, which has been awaited for more than six months, NAP writes.

Last year, the Court of BiH ordered the registration of property of the former JNA in Han Pijesak to the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Judge of the Court of BiH Anđelko Marijanović ruled at the end of 2015 that 11,474 square meters of land and military facilities in the municipality of Han Pijesak in the RS be registered as property of BiH. This is one of the largest military facilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Government of Republika Srpska did not agree with this court decision. They filed an objection with the Appellate Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Experts warn that the RS authorities are aware that the Appellate Chamber will not overturn the first-instance court decision, as it is a well-founded ruling. However, the RS authorities want to buy time. Under the influence of Russia, they do not want to join NATO. And it is clear that NATO will not activate the MAP for Bosnia and Herzegovina at the meeting in Warsaw, Poland, in July this year, without visible progress in registering prospective military property to the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

- If the Appellate Division of the Court of BiH were to deliver a ruling in the case of military property in Han Pijesak, the MAP issue would cease to be a political issue. Military property in BiH would become a technical issue. This could certainly be assessed as visible progress in BiH. More precisely, NATO would have grounds to activate the MAP at the NATO Summit in Warsaw – says Muharem Cero, an expert on state property of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

- If the ruling were delivered immediately, we could prepare for the summit in Warsaw on June 8 and 9.

For Cero, the Appellate Court ruling would also mean a clear message that Bosnia and Herzegovina is a state governed by the rule of law, where the law is above political interests.

In the Federation of BiH, major steps have been taken in recent years. As many as 23 military facilities have been registered as property of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, the authorities in Republika Srpska have not registered a single such facility.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia Hoyt Yee told reporters in Sarajevo today that other countries are making and implementing reforms and moving towards the EU and NATO, but politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina still have difficulty reaching an agreement. Yee called on leaders to work even better, NAP writes.