News in English     | 23.09.2020. 17:14 |

MoD, AF BiH and NATO HQ Sarajevo officials observe the exercise at Manjača

FENA Press release

SARAJEVO, September 23 (FENA) - Minister of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina Sifet Podžić with deputies Mijo Krešić and Mirko Okolić, and Chief of the Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of BiH, Colonel-General Senad Mašović and Commander of the NATO Headquarters Sarajevo, Brigadier General William Edwards, visited the military range at Manjača in order to monitor the assessment of NEL-1 of the Battalion Battle Group of Light Infantry (INF-L-BNG).

During the tour of the training ground, the director of the exercise, Brigadier Slaven Blavicki, informed the guests about the dynamics of the evaluation of this unit for peacekeeping operations, which is carried out by NATO evaluators, said the Ministry of Defense of BiH.

The director of NEL-1 assessment, Colonel Tore Bade, who will announce the initial field report on Friday, September 25, stressed that the final assessment of the unit's degree of interoperability will be made within 30 days, after a detailed analysis. He expressed satisfaction with the evaluation so far and stressed that the INF-L-BNG unit is well on its way to successfully completing the NEL-1 evaluation.

Minister Podžić pointed out his satisfaction with what he saw and emphasized that the Armed Forces of BiH are conducting their training at the Manjača range and that the representatives of NATO countries are only evaluating them.

"NATO soldiers are not participating in the exercise. One of the missions of the AF BiH is to participate in peacekeeping operations, led by NATO, the United Nations or the European Union.

So far, BiH has trained 11 companies and some platoons of various specialties, which are ready to carry out such missions. For the next cycle of cooperation, in 2019, we selected a battalion of light infantry. Now, this unit is being evaluated for the first time by NATO evaluators (so-called NEL-1).

Next year, the plan is to assess the level of SEL-2 and NEL-2, so that in 2023, we have a trained battalion combat group of light infantry for peacekeeping missions," said Minister Podžić.

The Chief of the Joint Staff of the AF BiH, Colonel General Mašović, pointed out that it is especially important that the BiH AF raises the level of interoperability with NATO, improves the quality of training, but also creates assumptions that in addition to the INF-L-BNG unit, other AF BiH units have better standards and better overall training.

He also stressed that they paid special attention during the preparation and implementation of the exercise to the compliance with epidemiological and hygienic measures prescribed by the competent institutions, in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Commander of the NATO Headquarters in Sarajevo, Brigadier General Edwards, congratulated on the successful implementation of this very demanding exercise.

"In order for the battalion group to be taken to the exercise, it requires the organization, resources and efforts of many people in the entire defense system. From what I saw, the team did an excellent job, alleviating the risk of coronavirus for the soldiers" said Edwards and praised the MoD and AF BiH for their commitment to developing well-trained and equipped forces capable of carrying out the mission prescribed by the Defense Law.

Activities within the NATO assessment of NEL-1 under the Operational Capabilities Concept (OCC E&F) began on September 21 and will be completed on September 24.

Members of INF-L-BNG through NEL-1 assessment are being checked and assessed by NATO assessors in the field of interoperability, which includes training, organization, structure and equipment of the designated units, according to the NATO task list.

(FENA) S. R.

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