“Esteemed members of the North Atlantic Council,

It is my pleasure and honour to address you briefly and present my view of the current political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with an emphasis on my country’s path towards full membership in NATO.

In a few sentences, allow me to briefly recall that Bosnia and Herzegovina’s path towards NATO membership began in 2001, with the adoption of the relevant Declaration in the Parliamentary Assembly, which resulted in the Law on the Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which prescribed the obligation of all state institutions to work towards fulfilling the criteria for NATO membership.

We submitted our official request for participation in the MAP (Membership Action Plan) back in 2009, and in 2018 the NAC invited Bosnia and Herzegovina to participate in the MAP.

In 2019, we only drafted and submitted the first Annual National Program (ANP), which we renamed the Reform Program in agreement with the allies, and four Reform Programs were submitted in the previous period, and the fifth is expected to be submitted very soon.

What we can jointly assess is that all Reform Programs after 2019 are, in fact, the same versions of the one from 2019, and I expect that this will be clearly stated and concrete tasks set for Bosnia and Herzegovina from each subsequent NATO evaluation.

In addition, Bosnia and Herzegovina has participated in two NATO missions, in Afghanistan and Iraq, then several United Nations missions, and finally a series of military exercises with NATO forces at home and abroad, where the interoperability of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina was rated very highly.

On the other hand, the current political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, initiated by the first-instance verdict against Milorad Dodik, the President of Republika Srpska entity, is very complex and may pose a direct threat to the security of the country and the entire region.

We have a judicial procedure on the one hand, conducted by domestic judicial institutions, which on the other hand is attempted to be turned into a political issue and some kind of internal dialogue, although in its essence it is not because it is not a political issue but, above all, a security issue.

We even have such signals that an attempt is being made to negotiate and agree on a solution through internal dialogue, which is actually impossible, because there is no political agreement or treaty that can or should devalue the decisions of judicial bodies, because that would be the final blow to the rule of law in our country.

We are fully aware that this is a matter for the domestic judicial and police institutions, which must resolve it themselves and which can be assisted by the EUFOR forces, and even NATO, as equal legal successors of the former SFOR, as already decided in Resolution 1575 of the United Nations Security Council from 2004.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind you how quickly SFOR forces reacted in 2001 in the "Hercegovacka Banka" case and prevented the then-attack on the constitutional order that was taking place under the name of "Hrvatska samouprava" ("Croatian self-government").

In a short conclusion, I would like to emphasize that Bosnia and Herzegovina allocates 0.95% of its GDP for defence, which is insufficient and, unfortunately, limited by the existence of the Fiscal Framework, which limits the state budget to 500 million euros, although in reality it should be around 15 billion euros.

If we were to abolish the existence of the Fiscal Framework, then we would have enough funds to fulfil our obligation under the NATO criteria to allocate 2% of GDP for defence.

Because of all the above, I call on NATO allies to pay additional attention to fulfilling the political criteria, especially those related to the rule of law and democracy, in the upcoming period regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina's participation in the MAP and its 5 chapters.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the rule of law is currently being attacked by those political actors who use the current poor political system to achieve a series of blockades, thereby attacking democracy itself and the democratic processes in the country.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, there is a positive sentiment among around 70% of citizens who want NATO membership, which can be politically blocked by only one member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, or only 3 delegates in the legislative body of government called the House of Peoples.

It is therefore essential that our NATO allies focus their attention, in addition to military criteria, on political criteria, in order to unblock the processes that lead Bosnia and Herzegovina towards NATO membership, as well as a country where the rule of law and full democracy prevail.

Thank you for your attention. "