Chairman of the Joint Committee on Defence and Security of BiH Sifet Podžić speaks with the Director for Defence, International Security and South East Europe at the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office

Chairman of the Joint Committee on Defence and Security of BiH, Sifet Podžić, spoke today with Angus Lapsley, Director of Defence, International Security and South East Europe at the Foreign &Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The current status and activities of the BiH institutions in creating conditions for the start of the implementation of the NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) as well as problems related to the coordination of the work of police agencies in the security sector, and the regional and internal security challenges that directly affect security in BiH were discussed during the meeting, as well as EUFOR activities in BiH.

In this connection, the Chairman of the Joint Committee pointed out that it is obvious that EUFOR should remain in BiH because they clearly define the mission and that EUFOR personnel are well-accepted in BiH. He pointed out that EUFOR is doing a very useful job with the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which, as it was said, makes a completely successful mission that our country needs.

Chairman Podžić informed Director Lepsley about the activities of the Joint Committee in the parliamentary oversight of the defence and security sector in BiH and thanked, on behalf of the Joint Committee and the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, the UK Army contingent for the dedicated work and activities they perform within the EUFOR Mission Althea, as well as for activities of the United Kingdom in cooperation with the Ministry of Defence of BiH and the Armed Forces of BiH.

The Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to BiH, Edward Alexander De Poulton Ferguson, and the First Secretary, Political Section of the Embassy, Julian Miller, attended also today's meeting. (End)