prijava
BANJA LUKA, August 26 (FENA) - Citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina have divided views on joining the NATO and this support is changing depending on whether the respondents are from Sarajevo, Mostar or Banja Luka, showed a survey of the Banja Luka Association "Center for Lobbying".
Fifty-six percent of the 700 respondents said they were for accession to NATO, 37 percent opted for military neutrality, and 7 percent for BiH to enter another military alliance.
In Banja Luka, the is the largest support for military neutrality (76 percent), 13 percent of respondents want BiH to join NATO, and 11 percent are for some another military alliance.
The survey of the Sarajevo citizens showed that 72 percent of citizens are for NATO, and 74 percent of citizens in Mostar also support that military alliance, the research showed.
Neutrality is much more expensive than joining a military alliance, says Denis Hadžović from the Center for Security Studies.
For a country as small as ours, especially in this turbulent age on the international scene, it is indispensable to be a part of an alliance in order to best protect its citizens' interests.
He participated today in Banja Luka in a scientific-expert conference on the topic "Military neutrality or NATO, Advantages and Disadvantages", and said that BiH would have economic benefits from joining NATO, and the costs and profiling of the BiH Armed Forces would be in line with the system of that military alliance, while a special gain would be made on the international arena.
Director of the Euro-Asian Security Forum from Belgrade, Mitar Kovač, believes that it would be good for BiH to remain only in the Partnership for Peace program, a NATO political and military program aimed at creating trust between NATO member states and other countries.
“The Conference "Military Neutrality or NATO, Advantages and Disadvantages" was organized to hear an argumentative discussion on strategic issues related to military neutrality or NATO membership, with a particular focus on identifying the advantages and disadvantages of both concepts,” said Daniela Djerić, President of the Assembly of the Association "The Center for Lobbying", which is the organizer of the event.
(FENA) S. R.
