Bosnia and Herzegovina is making progress on its path toward NATO and EU membership and might get there within the next decade, Bosniak member of the country’s three-member Presidency, Bakir Izetbegovic, said.

“We were never closer to NATO and European Union membership than now,” Izetbegovic said at a ceremony marking the 26th anniversary of the establishment of the Bosnian Army on Thursday.

“We are definitely in the waiting room and it will take us only some five to 10 years,” to become members of these associations “that guarantee stability, peace and security,” the Bosniak Presidency member said.

There are no real incidents in the country, unless politicians create them, he added.

“They are steering the pot, bringing up that historical mud, they won’t let it settle, they won’t let things become clear. Because of the elections, because of trying to position themselves, they are doing selfish and damaging things,” he said.

But the country is heading in the right direction despite the obstacles, he added.

“The situation is not great, but we have moved forward in the past three years,” Izetbegovic said. “I am definitely an optimist,” he concluded.