BOSNIAN DEFENCE OFFICIALS MET WITH EUFOR COMMANDER

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (February 18,2008) - The Bosnian Minister of Defence, Selmo Cikotic and the Commander of the Bosnian Army General Sifet Podzic, visited the European Union Force in Bosnia (EUFOR) Headquarters to attend a meeting with the EUFOR Commander,General Ignacio Villalaín.

During this time they discussed a number of issues regarding the progress made in the transferring of military responsibilities from EUFOR to the Bosnian Army.

Specifically the recent success of the countermining activity was reviewed. Also raised was the issue of weapons and ammunition storage sites.EUFOR and the the Bosnian Army have been conducting joint activities in the process of verification and significant progress has been made recently.

The storage of both weapons and ammunition in Bosnia has caused concerns in the past, but the work that continues in these areas by both EUFOR and the Bosnian Armed Forces will ensure that a safe and secure environment will exist.

The EUFOR Commander has recently visited an ammunition storage site to personally view the methods of the verification teams. He was very pleased with the work and passed on this view during the meeting with Minister Cikotic and General Podzic.

The meeting concluded with a discussion over joint training activities between EUFOR and the Bosnian Army.2008 has been described as a “year of training” for the Bosnian Armed Forces and this meeting has helped in the arrangement of more advanced training plans in support of this objective, EUFOR said.
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