SARAJEVO, June 4 (Hina) - A commission for the reorganisation of Bosnia-Herzegovina's defence system, which is chaired by James Locher, a U.S. expert on military issues, convened for the first time in Sarajevo on Wednesday.
SARAJEVO, June 4 (Hina) - A commission for the reorganisation of
Bosnia-Herzegovina's defence system, which is chaired by James
Locher, a U.S. expert on military issues, convened for the first
time in Sarajevo on Wednesday. #L#
The commission was set up on May 9 by a decision of Paddy Ashdown,
the international community's high representative for Bosnia.
Today's session was attended by the top civilian and military
officials of Bosnia's two entities -- the Croat-Muslim federation
and the Serb republic -- who thus began work on the definition of new
conditions necessary for the country to get an integrated defence
system, which was divided by a boundary line between the two
entities by the Dayton peace accords of 1995.
The priorities in the establishment of the new defence system must
be full state level civilian supervision over the armed forces, the
connection and interoperability of the armed forces, and a size
that respects the country's financial capabilities, said Locher.
Representatives of Bosnia's two entities agreed last month to set
up a military general staff on the state level. One of the principal
tasks in the coming period is the further reduction of troops from
the current 20,000 to 10,000.
(hina) ha sb