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SARAJEVO, June 20 (FENA) - Bosnia and Herzegovina is in the Membership Action Plan (MAP) in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which is the last step before full membership, but the process, especially in the last three years, is extremely politicized.
Minister of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sifet Podžić, said this today, speaking as an introductory speaker at the regular Sunday session of the Association of Independent Intellectuals Circle 99 on the topic "NATO and Security of BiH".
He assessed that in BiH more time should be dedicated to spreading understanding and real facts about NATO and encouraging reasoned performances of the academic and scientific community as well as young people to make decisions concerning their future.
“BiH is in the MAP. We have controversies about this and we have been having unnecessary discussions for three years, and if someone has doubts, he/she should contact NATO. MAP is the last program that NATO has in its genesis before full membership,” Podžić underlined.
He explained that the MAP is a plan that the state enters into and shapes itself what tasks, reforms and processes it will do in that plan. However, BiH wasted the year 2019 in discussions on what the ANP (Annual National Program) would be called, after which it was decided that BiH would call the program the Reform Program.
“The most important is that the NATO path has not been stopped and we are on the last step before admission to full membership. For all our activities in this area, we have relevant decisions of the political bodies of BiH. How long we will be in the MAP and when the allies will say that we have fulfilled the conditions and invite us to apply for membership depend on us,” Podžić added.
He reminds that this will require a decision that can be made in the BiH Presidency because that institution is responsible for security policy, also the Presidency can make a decision and ask for confirmation from the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, and a referendum on that issue may be required, but it is implemented throughout BiH.
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