EUFOR HANDS OVER RESPONSIBILTY FOR WEAPON STORAGE SITES TO BOSNIAN ARMY

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (March 8,2008) – The Commander of the Bosnian Armed Forces General Sifet Podzic and the Commander of the European Union Force in Bosnia (EUFOR),General Ignacio Villalaín attended a ceremony at Rajlovac Barracks of handing over the responsibility of Weapon Storage Sites from EUFOR to the Bosnian Army.The Bosnian Minister of Defence, Selmo Cikotic also attended the ceremony.A Letter of Understanding was signed by both the EUFOR Commander and the Commander of the Bosnian Army.

General Villalain stated that this event marks another step forward in successful implementation of the Bosnian defence reform.

He added that EUFOR Verification Unit and Internal Team for Bosnian Armed Forces’ Inspection Team conducted a program of joint inspections of weapons storages from September 2007.

General Villalain stated that the joint inspections conducted all the activities professionally and that all the results have been stored to a database which is available for public.

He emphasized that the Bosnian Army gained the International Community’s respect and added that the EUFOR is now able to transfer a significant part of jurisdiction onto them.

General Podzic said that he hopes that the Bosnian Army will soon take over jurisdiction over other sectors in order to create conditions to “say goodbye to our EUFOR friends and ask them to visit Bosnia as tourists”.

The Bosnian Deputy Defence Minister Igor Crnadak stated that the event is of an enormous significance for Bosnia, for it is a proof that the defence reform has been implemented successfully.

This week, EUFOR and the Bosnian Armed Forces were conducting joint military training at Comanche military base, near the eastern bosnian city of Tuzla.The Hungarian Company and a Platoon of the Bosnian Army soldiers have been learning to work together on operations that include Crowd Riot Control techniques and the rapid extraction of personnel from buildings under threat.

This training is seen to be very significant for both the EUFOR and the Bosnian Army. Earlier in January the Bosnian Armed Forces stated that 2008 would be a year of training and the results of this statement are now being seen.

This exercise tested the capability of both EUFOR and the Bosnian Army.The personnel involved were mainly infantry based and the training enhanced their operational capabilities,the EUFOR stated.
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BOSNIAN DEFENCE MINISTER SELMO CIKOTIC MET WITH AMBASSADOR OF UKRAINE

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (February 20,2008) – "Ukraine is reliable and predictable partner of Bosnia in field of military political and technology cooperation," the Bosnian Defense Minister Selmo Cikotic said yesterday during his meeting with the Ukrainian Ambassador to Bosnia Markiyan Lubkivskyi.

The parties discussed in detail the current situation in and the perspectives of bilateral cooperation in defense industry.They pointed out the importance of proximity of the two countries' foreign policy priorities involving their full-fledged integration into the European political space, and the international space of security.

Apart from this, they also focused on cooperation within the framework of NATO's Partnership for Peace programme, and the activity of the Defense Ministers Council of the Southeastern Europe.
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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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