Armed forces' delegations of Bosnia and Herzegovina and neighbouring Croatia held a meeting in Sarajevo on Wednesday and agreed they would expand the two armies' cooperation in the years 2019 and 2020.

Deputy Chief of Staff of the Bosnian Armed Forces, Major-General Ivica Jerkic and his Croatian counterpart, Major-General Drago Matanovic led the delegations which agreed the previous collaboration was “good and quality.”

The meeting was “very” successful, according to Jerkic, and they touched upon a series of topics including the armed forces’ assistance to civilians in cases of natural disasters.

“We discussed the continuation of cooperation through the US-Adriatic Charter as well as participation in ‘Resolute support’ peacekeeping mission (in Afghanistan). A very important subject we also talked about was the continuation of the use of the Croatian Military Academy's capacities with an accent on possibilities of the training, education, creating of new pilots because we find this a very important and delicate topic,” Jerkic said following the meeting.

Major-General Matanovic emphasised the two countries’ collaboration in education and training, pointing out the necessity of exchanging experience in preparing for and preventing natural disasters.

All prerequisites to keep the cooperation going towards the desired direction have been met, said Matanovic and added that Croatia was willing to help Bosnia and Herzegovina on its road to the NATO membership.

“We are here at disposal to share our experience,” he stressed and added.

The meeting held on Wednesday resulted in expanded cooperation of the two armies in 2019 and 2020, said the Croatian general.