Minister of Defence meets with Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Minister and the Ambassador affirmed the good bilateral relations, and underlined the vital importance of the co-operation with Bosnia and Herzegovina for the Republic of Croatia’s foreign and security, in view of the longest border, decided on by the Dayton Accords.

Minister Krstičević expressed the support from the Republic of Croatia to any reform undertaken to ensure equality of the constituent nations of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the focus on the constitutionally stipulated protection to Croats as the smallest of the three nations.

The Minister and the Ambassador reviewed the co-operation between the respective ministries of defence and the armed forces and underlined the growing number of activities, consisting primarily in the Croatian assistance through the education of the members of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Croatian military institutions, the transfer of the experience in the functional areas of defence planning and international defence co-operation and the activities related to the EU Common Security and Defence policy. 

The Croatian side pledged unreserved support to Bosnia and Herzegovina in its accession agenda and the assistance to its defence sector aimed at enhanced NATO interoperability , joint training and practice activities as well as the engagement in NATO-led operations.

Addressing the global and regional security situation and the challenges placed before Europe and democratic world, Minister Krstičević and Ambassador Paškalj agreed that the continued efforts towards the Euro-Atlantic integration was the best guarantee of stabilisation and prosperity of the region, wherefore Croatia remains a partner and will provide the assistance to Bosnia and Herzegovina and to other countries based on its own experience with the accession to NATO and the EU.