Accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to NATO

Bosnia and Herzegovina
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Bosnia and Herzegovina

The accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) has been under negotiations since 2010.

Bosnia and Herzegovina joined the Partnership for Peace program of NATO in 2006, and signed an agreement on security cooperation in March 2007.[1] The nation began further cooperation with NATO within their Individual Partnership Action Plan in January 2008.[2] Bosnia then started the process of Intensified Dialogue at the 2008 Bucharest summit.[3] The country was invited to join the Adriatic Charter of NATO aspirants on 25 September 2008.[4] Then in November 2008, a joint announcement from the Defence Minister and the NATO Mission Office in Sarajevo suggested that Bosnia and Herzegovina could join NATO by 2011 if it continues with the reforms made in the defence-area so far.[5]

In January 2009, Defence Minister Selmo Cikotić again confirmed Bosnia's interest in seeking a Membership Action Plan (MAP) at the 2009 summit, with membership by 2012 at the latest.[6] In February 2009 The Defence Minister of BiH Selmo Cikotic presented some poll numbers on NATO-membership: 70% of the country supports NATO-membership; however while 89% of the Federation Entity supports NATO-membership, only 44% in the RS-entity did. While the country did not receive an MAP at the April 2009 summit in Strasbourg–Kehl, Stuart Jones, an official of the US State Department, said on a September 2009 visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina that NATO was going to look at the possibilities for them to receive one in a December 2009 summit, repeating strong US support for the possibility. Then on 2 October 2009, Haris Silajdžić, the Bosniak Member of the Presidency, announced an official application for Membership Action Plan (MAP). On 22 April 2010, NATO agreed to launch the MAP for Bosnia and Herzegovina, but with certain conditions attached.[7] Turkey is thought to be the biggest supporter of Bosnian membership, and heavily influenced the decision.[8]

Bosnia and Herzegovina has yet to fulfil the condition to launch an Annual National Programme under its MAP: the transfer of the registration of 63 military facilities from the local level to the central government.[9][10] As of April 2018, 31 have been fully transferred, all of which are located in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[11] The Republika Srpska (RS), the Serbian political subdivision of Bosnia, has opposed the move and refuses to transfer the 23 properties located in its territory. A Bosnia court has ruled that it must transfer the military facility in Han Pijesak in RS to the Bosnian government.[12] This was upheld by a ruling of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 16 August 2017.[13]

The 1995 NATO bombing of Bosnia and Herzegovina targeted the Bosnian Serb Army and together with international pressure led to the resolution of the Bosnian War and the signing of the Dayton Agreement in 1995. Since then, NATO has led the Implementation Force and Stabilization Force, and other peacekeeping efforts in the country.

Negotiation progress

Event Date
Partnership for Peace December 2006
First Individual Partnership Action Plan January 2008[2]
Intensified Dialogue April 2008
Membership Action Plan April 2010[7]
Second Individual Partnership Action Plan February 2011[14]
Invitation to join
Accession protocol
Ratification by:
Albania
Belgium
Bulgaria
Canada
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Montenegro
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States
Full membership

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Bosnia, NATO sign security deal". B92. 19 March 2007. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
  2. 1 2 "NATO approves BiH's pre-membership action plan". SETimes.com. 11 January 2008. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
  3. ↑ "Bosnia hopes to join NATO by 2015". AFP. Haaba. 27 December 2007. Retrieved 20 September 2008.
  4. ↑ Avaz, Dnevni (26 September 2008). "BiH, Montenegro invited to join Adriatic Charter of NATO aspirants". Southeast European Times. Retrieved 7 October 2008.
  5. ↑ Numanović, S. (12 November 2008). "BiH ulazi u NATO 2011. godine?". Dnevni avaz (in Bosnian). Retrieved 12 November 2008.
  6. ↑ Fena (1 January 2009). "Posljednji korak ka punopravnom članstvu". Dnevni avaz (in Bosnian). Archived from the original on 3 January 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  7. 1 2 "Bosnia gets Nato membership plan". BBC News. 22 April 2010. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  8. ↑ "BiH got green light for MAP". Radio Slobodna Evropa.
  9. ↑ Stiglmayer, Alexandra. "Work in progress: Bosnia 20 years after Dayton". NATO.
  10. ↑ "NATO rules out admitting new members anytime soon". Fox news. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  11. ↑ "53rd Report of the High Representative for Implementation of the Peace Agreement on BiH to the Secretary-General of the UN". High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina. 2018-05-08. Retrieved 2018-07-29.
  12. ↑ Kovacevic, Danijel (23 November 2016). "Bosnian Military Property Dispute Bars Way to NATO".
  13. ↑ Kovacevic, Danijel (16 August 2017). "Court Rejects Bosnian Serb Claim to Army Facilities". Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  14. ↑ "NATO's relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina - Evolution of relations". NATO.int. 1 February 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
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