Security Policy

Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mladen Ivanic, said 02 February 2017 that in the country cannot be at war, because fortunately it has no weapons, but at the same time he did not rule out the possibility of individual incidents and conflicts. "War can not be for several reasons. There are no weapons. We do not have tanks, we do not have guns, we do not have transporters, no howitzers. I was lucky not to have them. With this political environment God forbid that we have, everything would be possible" said Ivanic.

The purpose of the Bosnia and Herzegovina defence system is, through the organisation, training and equipping of the Armed Forces, to carry out the missions set forth in the Bosnia and Herzegovina Constitution, Law on Defence and Defence Policy. This means that Bosnia and Herzegovina must be able to mobilise and employ the Armed Forces in order to protect its sovereignty, participate in internationally-mandated peace operations, and support civilian authorities in the event of natural and man-made disasters.

All countries in the region have identified accession to the European Union as a primary foreign policy goal. In this environment there is virtually no risk of external aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the near future. Therefore, at this moment there is no real threat that might endanger the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. If there are radical changes that threaten the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the new challenges would be met by appropriate measures and activities directed to defence preparation, based on the principles of collective defence and full co-operation with friendly and allied countries.

Bosnia and Herzegovina embraces without any limitation the concept of collective security as the keystone of its own military strategy. Based on this, it seeks membership in the NATO and other security alliances, as soon as possible, as the basis for the selection of strategic bilateral partners. Bosnia and Herzegovina clearly understands and embraces the concept of collective military security as the keystone of our long-term military strategy. The key to achieving unquestionable collective military security is to become a member of NATO, since Bosnia and Herzegovina's national sovereignty and territorial integrity would then be guaranteed by the entire Alliance.

The United States of America furnishes significant military assistance to the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina through the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) Programme, the International Military Education and Training (IMET) Programme, and the Joint Contact Team Programme (JCTP). Bosnia and Herzegovina has signed an Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) with the United States that facilitates mutual support for a wide range of projects. The State Partnership Programme between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the State of Maryland has demonstrated the potential to establish long-term, sustainable relationships in both the military and the civilian spheres. Through implementation of these and other initiatives and programmes, Bosnia and Herzegovina expects that the United States will remain a key strategic partner.

The Common Military Doctrine Working Group achieved a significant and historic agreement Thursday 15 May 2003. All parties from the SCMM, Ministries of Defence, the VF and the VRS approved the overarching doctrine, which brings together the previously approved common doctrine documents. The document tied together the three separate doctrines (Bosniac component of the VF, Bosnian-Croat component of the VF, and VRS), which address three domains: Protection of Sovereignty and Territorial Integrity, Peace Support Operations (PSO) and Military Assistance to Civil Authorities (MACA). This was the first time that all parties of the AF in BiH had agreed upon a common doctrine. It is a doctrine created by the military leadership of BiH for their AF to support their people. Ownership of this doctrine rests entirely with the military leadership of the AF in BiH. It is an extremely important step toward progress on the road to membership in Partnership for Peace.