Becirovic: HDZ BiH showed pro-Russia stance by voting against accelerated pathway to NATO for BiH

Joint commission for Defense and Security held a session earlier today which included voting on proposal by Denis Becirovic to accelerate BiH's access to full NATO membership. Besides the delegates from the RS, HDZ BiH delegates also voted against accelerated integration of BiH in the NATO Alliance. This was the first time that HDZ delegates openly stood up against the NATO membership, thus revealing their pro-Russian stance.

Becirovic asserted that membership in NATO is one of the two strategic goals of the foreign politics and that 'this issue is not up for discussion any longer'.

- Both the Presidency BiH and the Parliamentary Assembly unequivocally made related decisions and passed laws, and we are responsible to implement them as fast as we can, he said.

He also said that he was waiting for a few days to see if any of the state authorities would call a session as regards scandalous, anti-Dayton and anti-constitutional Resolution on protection of constitutional order and declaration of military neutrality of the RS.

- Unfortunately, there wasn't any serious reaction. The authorized representatives of the international community in BiH also did not react in a more concrete manner. Only House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly BiH will consider my proposal to intensify activities leading to accession to NATO for BiH, Becirovic revealed and further explained:

- In a few days, the House will discuss my proposal in which I request Council of Ministers BiH to prepare and include in the parliamentary procedure a progress report on the process of BiH accession to NATO with concrete measures for intensifying activities of BiH on its pathway to the full membership in NATO Alliance.

- Resolution which openly advocates for destruction of unequivocally determined foreign political goals of a sovereign country, and for uniting of one of administrative and territorial unit of BiH with another country, Serbia, is extremely dangerous anti-constitutional and anti-Dayton activity.

- Relevant representatives of the international community have to act on this, in accordance with clearly prescribed obligations they have towards the Dayton Peace Agreement. This new attempt of destroying Dayton agreement mustn't be ignored as it presents one of the most brutal and most dangerous attacks on sovereignty and territorial integrity of BiH since 1995, Becirovic warned.

- Resolution of BiH entity Republika Srpska cannot have any legal effects as the issue of military affiliation is defined by the Defense law BiH, and no entity act can prevail over it.

- The Defense law is equally clear relative to the invalid decision about military neutrality. Article 84 of the law reads: 'Parliamentary Assembly, Council of Ministers BiH, the Presidency, as well as all subjects of defense, within the framework of their own constitutional and legal authority, will implement activities required for accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to NATO.'

- Any other decision of any other lower-level government authority in BiH, from municipal to the state level, concerning demilitarization or military neutrality of any entity in BiH without change to these articles of the Defense law BiH in the course of a regular parliamentary procedure, is to be considered an institutional attack on constitutional and legislative order of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Becirovic concluded.