Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the countries that is on the road to the NATO membership, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, adding that the country will have the final say on potential membership.

Stoltenberg answered the question by Bosnia's Fena news agency on how close is the country to the membership considering the fact that there is no political consensus in Bosnia and Herzegovina on that matter.

This decision must be something that Bosnia and Herzegovina wants, because NATO respects decisions of all countries that chose their own paths.

“It is on Bosnia and Herzegovina to make that decision, just like it was the case with 30 NATO member states i.e. 32 including Finland and Sweden. If a country wants to be neutral, we respect that. If it wants to join NATO, then we sit and talk on its membership path,” Fena quoted Stoltenberg as saying.

He emphasised that the Western Balkans is a region in Europe, where European Union and NATO cooperate.

“We work together in Bosnia and Herzegovina where NATO supports UN's Althea operation. We work hard to renew the operation's mandate. On the other hand, NATO HQ in Sarajevo is closely cooperating with European Union's officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina. NATO has a long history in the Western Balkans where we managed to stop two brutal wars, and we are present in Kosovo through KFOR,” said Stoltenberg, according to Fena.