Statement: Politicians Should Not Interfere in Decisions Made by the Military

The OHR fully supports the statement issued by NATO HQ Sarajevo (NHQSa) earlier today, in which NHQSa expressed concern over recent statements reportedly made by one member of the BiH Presidency.

The OHR fully agrees with NHQSa that the attendance of BiH defence and military officials at a reception hosted by the President of Republika Srpska on 8 January was entirely appropriate and in line with the Ministry of Defence’s statement issued on 28 December 2005.

The OHR is disappointed that the SDA chose to politicise the attendance of the Minister of Defence and his staff . This appears to be yet another attempt to establish ethnic parallelism in the armed forces. If BiH is to adhere to European standards, then politicians have to forego the right to politically interfere in the day to day decisions made by the military.

The days when politicians seek to control Generals ought to have ended long before now. The decision to attend the reception was a legal decision, which reflects the fact that BiH has a single military force.