BiH Armed Forces celebrate 3rd birthday

01/12/2008

The Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina now constitute a BiH institution successfully established at the state level, one that is making strong progress towards NATO integration.

By Jusuf Ramadanovic for Southeast European Times in Sarajevo -- 01/12/08

The Armed Forces seek to ensure the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina. [Getty Images]

On Monday (December 1st), the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AF BiH) observe their third birthday. Established in December of 2005, they represent an amalgam of the two founding armies -- the Bosnian-Croat Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Bosnian Serb Army of Republika Srpska.

Currently, the AF BiH's rolls exemplify the diversity of the society from which they draw. Their troops are Bosniaks (45.9%), Serbs (33.6%), Croats (19.8%) and members of other ethnic groups amounting to about 0.7%. Also, 4.54% are women. Placed under the central command of the presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, they seek to ensure the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of BiH.

BiH Presidency Chairman Nebojsa Radmanovic sent his congratulations to the troops Monday. "The results in the area of defence and security accomplished so far in BiH lead me to believe that the [AF BiH] ... shall be a professional force contributing to the peace, security and stability of BiH and of the whole region," he said.

Defence Minister Selmo Cikotic told the Fena news agency "all commitments related to the country's defence reform have been met and ... exceptional progress has been made on our country's path to full membership in NATO." Recognising its success as a member of the Partnership for Peace (PfP), NATO invited BiH in early 2008 to join the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP).

At the April summit in Bucharest, the Alliance asked BiH to begin the Intensified Dialogue process, an additional recognition of progress on the path to NATO membership. At the summit in April 2009, Cikotic said, BiH will apply for the Membership Action Plan (MAP), yet another milestone. The AF BiH have improved their training in an effort to match Alliance standards.

In keeping with this process, next September in Banja Luka, NATO will conduct its Joint Effort 2009 exercise -- a major drill to verify the interoperability of communications systems of the NATO and PfP countries. More than 1,200 representatives of 42 countries and two multinational organisations will participate.