Chairman Nikola Spirić expressed his gratitude to Ambassador Jan Braathu and Norway for their work on the NATO MAP. He agreed that NATO’s decision to give MAP is good news for Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), and that the country has to keep working on meeting the requirements on a satisfactory level. Although MAP is not a guarantor for NATO membership, it is certainly an instrument to help countries on their path of reform, and it is therefore important for Bosnia and Herzegovina to follow up the requests from NATO, especially the issue on immoveable defense property.
Both agreed that party politics should not get in the way of this and result in a waste of valuable time. Spirić stated that the formula for success is internal dialogue – something that is currently missing in BiH. Ambassador Braathu stated that the Norwegian Embassy, both as NATO Contact Point Embassy and bilaterally, is willing to help as much as possible, but that this problem has to be solved through an agreement among political leaders in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Both parties agreed that they have to keep working on this issue, and that MAP is a step in the right direction for BiH.