Javier Colomina, the NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary-General, is on an official visit to BiH, and in an exclusive interview with N1 he spoke about security threats to BiH and Georgia, threats from the Russian Ambassador, and Bosnian Serb Presidency member Milorad Dodik's announcements about the formation of the Republika Srpska (RS) entity army and other topics.

Speaking about the security situation in the country, he said the Alliance took some steps regarding cooperation.

“The Russian war in Ukraine has changed the security environment. The risk of interference is greater than it was. So we decided to increase the level of cooperation to make BiH more resilient because we decided to do the same with our other partners. I was also in Georgia, and I talked to the authorities there. I don’t think that BiH is exposed to threats in Europe. There is a certain level of security instability, but NATO is ready,” he said.

During his visit he had the chance to meet with Sefik Dzaferovic, the Bosniak member of the BiH Presidency, but not Dodik. When asked if he has any problem with meeting Dodik, he firmly rejected such a notion by saying there is absolutely no problem, and that they would meet during his next visit.

Asked if Bosnia should be worried after the Russian Ambassador threatened that his country would take certain steps if BiH becomes a NATO member, Colomina dais he believes there is an increased risk of Russia’s interference in countries, like Georgia and Bosnia.

“I’ve heard those statements and I’m monitoring the situation with concern, but those are also only statements from diplomats,” Colomina concluded.