NATO is ready to accept Bosnia's first Annual National Programme (ANP) but this decision is on Bosnian authorities, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told N1.

NATO's senior official confirmed that he briefly met Denis Zvizdic, the Chairman of Bosnia's Council of Minister, on the sidelines of a security conference taking place in Munich these days, and that he told him the decision on adoption of this document, which paves the way for activation of the Membership Action Plan (MAP), depends solely on Bosnia's authorities.

Bosnia received a green light for the MAP activation in December last year, when the NATO ministers invited the country to deliver its first ANP, which would mean a step forward in Bosnia's relations with the alliance.

Due to political disagreements, the document has not been discussed or adopted since then.

“Bosnia and Herzegovina is a valuable partner,” Stoltenberg told N1, adding that NATO has been present in the Western Balkans for decades and will continue cooperating with its countries.

“We can see certain progress in the Western Balkans, Montenegro has become a NATO member state and the Republic of North Macedonia is in the process of accession to the NATO. We welcome that, those were two sovereign decisions of these countries in the Western Balkans,” said Stoltenberg.