Bosnian officials and foreign diplomats have on Thursday marked 70 years since the forming of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) with a conference named ‘Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region in the light of NATO cooperation and partnership’.

“With us today are representatives of Montenegro, Croatia, North Macedonia and Serbia, regions where an open door policy for NATO is still alive,” said Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister and the President of Bosnia’s Commission for NATO integration Josip Brkic, adding that such a policy has provided good results.

Bosnia’s Defence Minister, Marina Pendes, said that peace, security and stability have no alternatives and nor does Bosnia’s path towards NATO membership.

“I believe that the Ministry of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina implemented 90 per cent of its obligations and it will throughout this mandate do all it can to contribute to peace, stability, security and the implementation of all obligations as defined by law,” she said.

Hungary’s Ambassador to Bosnia, Kristian Posa, said that his embassy is this year the point of communication between NATO and Bosnia and that its primary goal is to promote the alliance in the country.

He said that his embassy does not only want to tell Bosnia what NATO expects from it, “but also to forward to Brussels what Bosnia and Herzegovina has to say.”