Joint press conference by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg with Denis Bećirović, chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 8 April 2024.
🗣 | NATO Secretary General:
Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina, dear Denis,
It’s great to have you here.
Welcome to NATO.
It’s great to see you again.
And actually, welcome back to the NATO Headquarters.
We last met during my visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina in November.
And the Deputy Secretary General led a visit of the North Atlantic Council to Sarajevo earlier this year.
Your visit today is a chance to take stock of our partnership.
And discuss what more we can do together.
Bosnia-Herzegovina is a long-standing NATO partner.
We strongly support your sovereignty and territorial integrity.
We continue to support the EU-led Operation Althea, under the Berlin plus arrangements, to maintain a safe and secure environment.
And we commend Bosnia-Herzegovina for your recent progress on the path towards membership in the European Union.
But we remain deeply concerned by continued secessionist policies and divisive rhetoric.
This is reckless and dangerous.
It undermines hard-won progress, and hampers reforms, which would benefit your people.
All political leaders must work together to preserve unity and safeguard national institutions.
This is key for peace and security in the country.
And for stability in the Western Balkans.
NATO has been committed to our partnership for many years.
We support your security reform efforts through our Headquarters in Sarajevo.
And through our Defence Capacity Building package, we are now helping you to strengthen your capabilities further.
In areas including crisis management, cyber defence, and countering terrorism.
We also appreciate Bosnia-Herzegovina’s contributions to our common security.
And I welcome your efforts to upgrade your armed forces to work even more closely with NATO.
Including through the certification of a light infantry battalion to NATO standards of combat readiness.
NATO’s commitment to Bosnia and Herzegovina is firm.
And we stand ready to continue our political dialogue and strengthen our practical cooperation.
For the benefit of our shared security.
So Chairman, thank you again for being here today.
Please, you have the floor.
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7 апр 2024
