SARAJEVO, Sept 29 (Hina) - The defence minister of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Miroslav Nikolic, has stated that attempts to establish a single army in Bosnia-Herzegovina based on the model of the former Yugoslav People's
Army are unacceptable.
SARAJEVO, Sept 29 (Hina) - The defence minister of the Federation of
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Miroslav Nikolic, has stated that attempts to
establish a single army in Bosnia-Herzegovina based on the model of
the former Yugoslav People's Army are unacceptable. #L#
Speaking at a news conference in Sarajevo on Monday, Nikolic said
that it was necessary to preserve ethnic components in the future
armed forces and that the country should have an army organised on
the model of armies in multiethnic countries, such as Belgium,
Switzerland or Great Britain. That model includes also the
preservation of the Croat component in the Army of the Federation of
Bosnia-Herzegovina, which developed from the Croatian Defence
Council, Nikolic explained.
Commenting on a recent agreement to reorganise the country's
defence system, which provides for state control and a single chain
of command in the armies of the Croat-Muslim and the Serb entity,
Nikolic said that this was a very important achievement which
brought his country closer to NATO's Partnership for Peace
programme.
(hina) rml sb