16TH ANNIVERSARY OF BOSNIAN ARMY MARKED IN SARAJEVO

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (April 17,2008) – On the occasion of marking the 16th anniversary of the Bosnian Army and 3rd anniversary of the Second Infantry (Ranger) Unit, central ceremony was organized in Rajlovac Military Base near Sarajevo. Memories of BiH Army’s development and formation of the Unit which is preserving the Bosnian Army’s heritage were evocated.

In presence of politicians, diplomats and international organizations’ officials, as well as in presence of representatives of the Bosnian veteran organizations and the highest military officials, the Bosnian Defence Minister Selmo Cikotic held an expose on the heroic struggle of the Bosnian Army in the process of the defence of Bosnia.

Minister Cikotic emphasized that Bosnians are obliged to preserve memory of all the people who contributed to the defence of Bosnia (during the 1992-1995 Serbian,Montenegrin and Croatian aggressions), with patriotism, courage and dedication.

Minister Cikotic emphasized that the defence reform’s success has been recognized at the internal and international plan and that it has resulted in Bosnia’s association to the “Intensive Dialogue” phase at the NATO summit in Bucharest.

With remark that this status is a higher degree of communication and cooperation between the Bosnian Army and NATO, Cikotic expressed hope and expectations that Bosnia will, in near future, celebrate the fulltime membership to NATO.

The Rajlovic festivity started with a military review conducted by the Bosnian Defence Minister Selmo Cikotic, accompanied with his Deputy Marina Pendes and the commander of the Bosnian Army General Sifet Podzic.
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