SARAJEVO, Sept 25 (Hina) - Members of NATO's Military Committee currently on a two-day visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina, on Thursday reiterated their call on the government of that country to support defence reforms if the country wishes
to be included in the "Partnership for Peace" programme.
SARAJEVO, Sept 25 (Hina) - Members of NATO's Military Committee
currently on a two-day visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina, on Thursday
reiterated their call on the government of that country to support
defence reforms if the country wishes to be included in the
"Partnership for Peace" programme. #L#
We hope that officials in this country accept the steps proposed by
the Defence Reforms Committee and that they will take the political
steps necessary to enter the "Partnership for Peace", US Admiral
Malcolm Fages told reporters in Sarajevo. Fages is the deputy
president of NATO's Military Committee.
Senior officers of NATO member countries arrived in B-H as the
international community is pressuring the Bosnian side to accept
the reorganisation of the defence system which aims to introduce
command and decision-making structures at national level while at
the same time both entity armies would continue to exist.
The Party for Democratic Action (SDA) and its president Sulejman
Tihic persistently reject such a concept of defence, insisting on
full integration of the existing military forces.
Admiral Fages said that NATO expected defence reforms in B-H to be
accepted in their entirety or else the country would not be admitted
into the "Partnership for Peace".
The Council for the Implementation of the Dayton Accord (PIC),
consisting of representatives of the most influential Western
countries and Russia, is to meet in Sarajevo on Friday.
The Office of the High Representative (OHR) sent a warning to
government representatives, saying that the coming hours were
crucial for the decision whether or not B-H was capable of
implementing reforms that should bring it closer to Euro-Atlantic
institutions.
(Hina) sp vm