Bosnia Applies for NATO Plan

Bosnia and Herzegovina has applied for the NATO Membership Action Plan, which would lead the country towards full membership in the Alliance.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen accepted the Bosnian bid, saying: “I welcome the application because I believe that the best route to lasting stability in the Balkans is Euro-Atlantic integration, and that includes Bosnia and Herzegovina in NATO,” Rasmussen said.

The Croat member of the BiH Presidency, Zeljko Komsic, who submitted the application, said that all political forces in his country are in consensus regarding European and Euro-Atlantic integration.

“Bosnia and Herzegovina wants to become a fully-fledged member of NATO and we will do whatever is asked of us, because it is important not only for NATO but for our country as well,” Komsic said.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has been a member state of the Alliance's Partnership for Peace since November 2006. NATO has had a presence in the country for more than a decade through the peacekeeping mission.

The NATO chief warned that the path towards full membership is not an easy one, and therefore called on all politicians in the country to undertake the necessary measures to realise this goal.
 
“There are a list of conditions to be fulfilled”, Rasmussen warned. “I can confirm that constitutional reform is of outmost importance,” he added, mentioning that defence reforms and the functioning of democratic institutions are also among looked at in ascertaining a potential member state's right to NATO induction.

Komsic confirmed that NATO officials had “clearly stated” what is expected of Bosnia.

“If you ask whether we have the capacity to do so and whether we are ready; I can answer [in the] affirmative,” Komsic said.