OHR: BOSNIA SHOWS IT IS SERIOUS ABOUT DEFENCE REFORM

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (March 29,2008) - The agreement on transferring military weapons, ammunition, explosives and certain other movable defence property from the entities to the Bosnaan defence institutions is finally resolved. State and entity government representatives signed in Doboj the agreement on final disposal of all rights and liabilities over movable defence property that will continue to serve defence purposes.

The agreement also includes procedures for the disposal of surplus weapons, ammunition and explosives and distribution of the proceeds from any sales to the entities and the state, the Office of the International Community's High Representative in Bosnia (OHR) said.

Welcoming agreement OHR’s Principal Deputy High Representative Raffi Gregorian said: “Today's agreement, though overdue, is another milestone in defence reform implementation. It is especially important because it will allow Bosnia to finally start getting rid of tons of unstable and dangerous material the maintenance of which has needlessly strained the resources of the Bosnian Armed Forces.Moreover, as we saw recently in the tragic pictures from Albania, failure to deal with such material in a timely fashion can cost lives”.

NATO leaders meet in Bucharest next week. “This agreement says that Bosnia is serious about defence reform and its NATO aspirations,” Gregorian said.

"I hope the NATO's leaders will take this into consideration, as well as Bosnia's demonstrated willingness to contribute to international peace and security missions,” Gregorian added.
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