Professional paper
The programme of reforms in Bosnia and Herzegovina - cooperation or membership?
Ivica Jerkić
; Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Robert Beljan
orcid.org/0009-0001-5415-2427
Abstract
This paper problematizes the content and meaning of the document "BiH Reform Programme", initially published for the period of November 2019 – November 2020, and later submitted under the same name for 2021 and 2022, and seeks to answer whether these documents are Annual National Programmes (ANP) which imply the activation of the NATO Membership Action Plan. The content of the document is analysed in relation to the prescribed form of NATO's Annual National Programmes and compared to the documents of countries that were aspirants for NATO membership, such as Montenegro and North Macedonia, as well as the current aspirant Ukraine. Since the content and meaning of the document have been interpreted differently by politicians, military experts, and the media in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is necessary to define the status of the "BiH Reform Programme" document through the prism of real facts. After the general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a coalition agreement was reached between political parties for the establishment of the government at the state level, entitled "Guidelines, Principles, and Objectives in the Executive and Legislative Authority at the BiH Level for the Period 2022 – 2026". Since this agreement does not mention NATO cooperation or integration, the question of the real meaning of the "BiH Reform Programme" document and what we can expect in the future regarding relations with NATO is once again raised.
Keywords
Programme Reform; Annual National Programme; Membership Action Plan; cooperation; membership
Hrčak ID:
312230
URI
Publication date:
22.12.2023.
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