Denis Becirovic, Bosnia Presidency member has called on the West to support the accelerated accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to NATO, stressing that like Finland, Bosnia is on the geopolitical frontlines, too. A NATO fast track for Bosnia would lock down the stability of the Western Balkans, and the support of the United States in that would be of key importance, according to Becirovic. He expects the first steps towards that goal at the NATO Summit in Lithuania this summer.

Russia’s aggression against Ukraine rages a thousand miles away, but we in Bosnia and Herzegovina feel as if it is on our immediate borders, Becirovic wrote in an op-ed for Just Security, an online forum for the analysis of security, democracy, foreign policy, and rights, based at the New York University School of Law.

“It is also why we welcome Finland’s entry into NATO, because it will help ensure peace in the rest of Europe, even amid war in Ukraine. In that regard, President Joe Biden’s declaration that NATO is strengthened by its newest ally and that the Alliance will continue to safeguard transatlantic security, defending ‘every inch of NATO territory’, are of the utmost importance,” Becirovic wrote.

Reminding of the horrors of war in Bosnia during the 1990s and comparing it with the events of today in ukraine, Becirovic warns about the Russian influence in BiH, as well as about the ties between Moscow and Belgrade.

“Even today, our country remains in the crosshairs of Russian-backed Serb nationalists and their expansionist machinations. While Moscow advances its ‘Russian World’ through the leveling of entire cities in Ukraine, in Belgrade they promote a so-called ‘Serbian World’, to be carved out of the sovereign territories of neighboring states, including Bosnia. Serbia has provided safe harbor to Wagner Group militants, has dubious – and anti-democratic — ties to Russian intelligence operatives, and has received billions in Russian and Chinese arms, all while actively sponsoring hardline secessionist elements in Bosnia,” said the Presidency member.

He then compared the recent accession of Finland to NATO with the current position of BiH on the membership, emphasising that it is necessary to have the same procedure applied on BiH.

“Like Finland, Bosnia is on the geopolitical frontlines. And as a result, I strongly believe Bosnia, like Finland, should be admitted to NATO through an accelerated procedure. After all, it already has been working under a membership action plan since 2010. Bosnia must not be left to swing in the winds of war blowing from the Black Sea. The Russian attack on Ukraine has proved there is no longer a geostrategic periphery, but that Europe’s security and stability depends on a full-spectrum defense of all vulnerable polities,” Becirovic underlined.

The Presidency member also recalled of his January meeting with NATO Secretary General Hens Stoltenberg and the chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Royal Netherlands Navy Admiral Rob Bauer, when he stressed that BiH has no alternative than the Euro-Atlantic route. He emphasised that after being elected as a member of the tripartite Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina in October 2022, he chose this as his first trip outside the country, “because Brussels – home base for NATO and the EU — and Washington are the most strategically significant destinations for BiH.”

“After tectonic security changes in Europe over the past year due to Russia’s war on Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina needs a NATO fast track to help the Alliance permanently lock down the stability of the Western Balkans and to likewise permanently foreclose the possibility of renewed instability in our country. No one — not NATO nor the citizens of Bosnia — can afford to squander this opportunity,” said Becirovic.

He deems that the upcoming NATO summit in Lithuania in July this year should send a clear message that the membership of Bosnia and Herzegovina is both desirable and strategically important for the entire Euro-Atlantic community.

“And, most importantly, it is feasible — since the BiH Armed Forces are already trained and equipped according to NATO standards. The pursuit and acquisition of NATO membership is already enshrined into Bosnian law. Article 84 (Activities for Accession to NATO) of the country’s Defence Law states: ‘The Parliamentary Assembly, Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Presidency, and all defence authorities within their respective constitutional and legal competencies, shall conduct required activities for the accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to NATO’,” added the Presidency member.

In his article, Becirovic also warned about “clsoe links” between “the Serb nationalist establishment in Bosnia and Herzegovina” with Moscow and a “posture of stringent opposition to the country’s NATO aspirations.”

However, he added, they have few institutional means to halt our progress, no more than similar actors did in neighboring Montenegro, which became the Alliance’s 29th member in 2017.

“Precisely because we oppose the reactionary politics of individuals like the president of the BiH entity Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, and the shameful associations that he and his sponsors in Belgrade maintain with the Putin regime, we urge the Atlantic community to recognize the significance and urgency of our membership in NATO,” he stressed.

Becirovic believes that a NATO fast track for Bosnia and Herzegovina would justify the Alliance's value-based purpose.

“It is a moral obligation to do everything to prevent history from repeating itself in the Balkans. At the crossroads of history, of course with Ukraine in mind, personal and collective experience compel us to stand up and take bold actions,” he emphasised.

Realising this aim will require vision and leadership, and the support of the United States will be of the key importance, according to him.

“It will be difficult, but the past year has shown that the Euro-Atlantic community still has the capacity to deliver when the situation demands it. Furthermore, the past year has shown the imperative of acting preventatively, before negative trends descend into a downward spiral. As the experience with Ukraine has shown in the converse, Russia isn’t likely to dare an attack on NATO members, knowing the full force of the Alliance would come to bear. This preventive measure would, in turn, benefit the Alliance in further stabilizing the Western Balkans, supporting EU integration, and adding another professionalized member force,” Becirovic stressed.

“Through the support of the United States, the EU, and NATO for Ukraine, Moldova, Finland, and Sweden, the whole of the free world is safer. Bosnia and Herzegovina must be part of the future of that calculus. And the most significant resulting policy should be our immediate entry into NATO,” he added.