High Representative Valentin Inzko expressed gratitude to Turkey for its continuing and invaluable contribution to EUFOR today when he met the National Defense Minister of Turkey, Ismet Yilmaz in Sarajevo. He said that the continued UN-mandated presence of EUFOR troops in BiH “provides important reassurance for the BiH public.”
Noting that NATO’s conditionality for BiH to proceed down the path to full membership coincides with the OHR’s conditionality on defence property, the High Representative said he was “working actively to support BiH’s NATO aspirations.”
Turkish National Defence Minister Yılmaz, reiterating Turkey’s firm commitment to the territorial integrity, sovereignty and political unity of BiH, reconfirmed Turkey’s support for BiH’s eventual integration with the European and Euro-Atlantic structures and emphasized the necessity for the formation of the Government at the state level without any further delay. He highlighted the importance of establishing national reconciliation between two entities, three constituent peoples and others and expressed his trust in BiH’s politicians and non-political actors to work more effectively in the interests of their country and citizens in the weeks and months that lie ahead.