Instead of supporting the reduction, Sattler and Escobar should back the NATO integration

By: Ernad Metaj

The Armed Forces of BiH are under attack by the member of the Presidency Milorad Dodik, however, it seems that they are also his lifeline that will get him out of his dangerous
secessionist game meant to divide BiH. His new proposal is to halve the BiH Armed Forces so that the RS would not form its own army. Representatives of the international community
would be happy to support him in that, because it also makes their job easier.

According to our sources, Gabriel Escobar, the Special Envoy of the US Secretary of State for the Western Balkans, indirectly advocated this during a meeting with representatives of the
BiH Ministry of Defense. That way, Escobar would fulfill his public promise that Republika Srpska will not form its own army. Much more direct on this issue was Johann Sattler, the Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Bosnia and Herzegovina. He has repeatedly emphasized the reduction of the Armed Forces in talks with domestic politicians. If Escobar and Sattler are well-meaning, they should convince Dodik that BiH should first become a member of NATO, because in that case, downsizing the BiH Armed Forces would be a realistic option. This was even
adopted within the Defense Review, and as a NATO member, BiH would have about 5,000 soldiers.

Without that, it all comes down to further provoking tension and fear of possible conflict, but also playing with livelihoods of the AF BiH's members. They are people of flesh and blood,
with families to feed, loans to pay back. For many of them, losing their job would mean a blow to their livelihood.

That people are afraid of how they will survive was recently realized by a security official of the BiH Armed Forces from the ranks of the Serb people, who lobbied in the church for the
signatures of Serbs on their readiness to leave the BiH Armed Forces. As he did not have an answer to the question of what formation position awaits them and what would be their salary
in the RS army, the lobbying was unsuccessful. It also denies the claim by the Deputy Defense Minister Mirko Okolić that 80 percent of Serbs are ready to leave the BiH Armed Forces.

Lies seem to have become one of the main weapons of proponents of the division of BiH. Just like Okolić is not telling the truth, Milorad Dodik is even further from it, saying yesterday
from Belgrade that the Armed Forces BiH cost 370 million marks. Dodik knows very well that the budget is smaller by more than 80 million because his policy has long stopped any development of the BiH Armed Forces. This claim is a continuation of the attempt to keep the donations provided by the Ministry of Defense as a military budget in order to show that they cost more. Fortunately, the Minister of Defense of BiH, Sifet Podžić, does not agree to that, and he clearly showed that after a total of 10 million euros was approved by the international community for the AF BiH for demining.

Dodik's claim that Serbs will not join the BiH Armed Forces also proves that he is not telling the truth. He has been denied by 63 applications for the recently announced competition for
19 positions that belong to Serbs. Worse than that is Dodik's attempt to radicalize the situation by telling that Bosniaks, or as he calls them Muslims, will fill empty Serb and Croat seats.
Before any solution is reached, Sattler and Escobar should know that Dodik is not telling the truth, and that he is the main culprit for the impression that the BiH Armed Forces are not
efficient. In his madness, Dodik went so far as to refuse to allow helicopters to be engaged in extinguishing the fire, which directly endangered human lives. Exercises with NATO
regularly show how capable Armed Forces we have; BH soldiers easily reach and exceed the the standards of this military organization. 

One thing that Dodik is not saying in public is that there is no money for downsizing the Armed Forces. There is no money because the SNSD is blocking the budget which would have to provide funds for severance pay to those who lose their jobs. For years, the SNSD has been an obstacle for about 5,000 people to earn a living by engaging in the reserve composition of the BiH Armed Forces, as prescribed by law.

It has become clear to everyone that Dodik needs an exit ticket, but Sattler and Escobar, who are generally worried about people leaving BiH, should not let him do it at the expense of the
AF members' families that will be left without daily bread. Therefore, Sattler and Escobar should help BiH become a member of the NATO, and then the BiH Armed Forces will not be
a problem, Dodik even less so.