Members of the Committee on the Civil Dimension of Security and the Subcommittee on Democratic Governance of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly have began a two-days visit to our country by meeting with representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH

Members of the Collegium of both houses of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PA BiH), members of the Delegation of the BiH PA in the Parliamentary Assembly of NATO (NATO PA) and members of the Joint Committee for Defense and Security discussed today in Sarajevo with members of the Committee on the Civil Dimension of Security and the Subcommittee on Democratic management of NATO PA on progress of our country and the challenges that BiH faced on its path towards European and Euro-Atlantic integration.

The speaker of House of the Representatives of PA BIH Borjana Krišto and the deputy speaker of the House of Peoples of PA BiH Safet Softić welcomed participants of the meeting, also attended by the representatives of delegations of Montenegro, Georgia and Serbia in the NATO PA's. The speakers stressed that BiH, despite some internal political disagreements, especially related to the entry of our country into NATO, made a positive step forward both in the EU integration process and in the process of activating the membership Action plan (MAP) in NATO.

The chairman of the delegation of BiH PA in NATO PA Nikola Lovrinović welcomed the Delegation of the NATO PA and pointed out that in our country, after a long period of stagnation, from 2014 has been created favorable political and economic climate, as well as political commitment to move forward in the reforms of the European and Euro-Atlantic path. Warning that BiH does not want to stay out of the track of all the countries in the region that have entered or are on its way to NATO, Lovrinović requested the support of NATO parliamentarians to activate the MAP, as well as in the process of fulfilling the conditions for full membership of our country in the EU and in NATO programs.

The Chairman of the Joint Committee for Defense and Security Sifet Podžić also addressed to the representatives of NATO PA's, expressing satisfaction with the results achieved in the process of defense reform and the parliamentary oversight of defense and security sectors. He said that the activation of MAP would send to BiH NATO a strong message of support to the present efforts that BiH institutions made on the path towards European and Euro-Atlantic integration.

In his address to the participants of the meeting, vice president of NATO PA and the chairman of the Subcommittee on Democratic Governance NATO PA's Lord Thomas Michael Jopling warned on, as he said, the new challenges that NATO and the entire Western Balkans region are currently facing, particularly emphasizing the crisis in Ukraine, the threats of terrorism and refugee crisis. Commending the progress of BiH on its path towards the EU and NATO, Lord Jopling said that BiH is increasingly becoming a country which, through involvement of members of the armed forces, provides security to other countries and regions.
Lord Jopling wished our country every possible success and promised support of NATO PA in the process of European and Euro-Atlantic integration.