DEMOCRACY AND SECURITY in Southeastern Europe, No 1

the ti tle of Re co mme nda ti ons for Ame ndme nts in the
pro po sed de fe nse re fo rm co nce pt. In its Pre amble it sa -
ys: “Re pu bli ka Srpska su ppo rts the me mbe rship of BiH
in PfP and NA TO.” 5 BiH si gned acce ssi on to PfP NA TO
on 15 th De ce mber 2006. At its se ssi on of 18 th Ja nu ary
2007, the Pre si de ncy of BiH ado pted a co nclu si on gi vi -
ng its appro val to the Mi ni stry of Fo re ign Affa irs BiH to
se nd a di plo ma tic no te to NA TO Se cre ta ry Ge ne ral, expre
ssi ng the offi ci al inte nti on of BiH to open a di plo ma -
tic re pre se nta ti on offi ce in NA TO HQ. The Pre si de ncy
of BiH fi led an appli ca ti on for Me mbe rship Acti on Plan
in 2009, which was re je cted at the De ce mber Su mmit
of NA TO due to the co untry’s insu ffi ci ent re adi ness in
the imple me nta ti on of ce rta in re fo rms.
Co mpa red to other co untri es, Bi H’s acce ssi on to NA -
TO has se ve ral pa rti cu la ri ti es :
1. Bi H’s acce ssi on to NA TO is ha ppe ni ng wi thin a po -
stwar and po st co nfli ct tra nsi ti on and sta bi li za ti on of
pe ace on the ba sis of the Da yton Pe ace Agre eme nt
as an inte rna ti onal agre eme nt, which also has ma ny
re gi onal se cu ri ty aspe cts and di me nsi ons. NA TO inte -
rve ned in the war in BiH. Thro ugh the pe ace-impo -
si ng ma nda te, the Re so lu ti on of the UN Se cu ri ty
Co uncil is in po wer in BiH. Acco rdi ng to that Re so -
lu ti on, EU FOR and NA TO He adqu arte rs in Sa ra je vo
are the su cce sso rs of SFOR as the sta bi li zi ng pa rt of
se cu ri ty envi ro nme nt of the co untry. All of that ma -
kes the re la ti onship of BiH to NA TO and vi ce ve rsa
a ca usal co nne cti on, that in a lo gi cal way is expre ssed
as the co nti nu ati on of a co mple me nta ry pro cess:
NA TO in Bo snia - Bo snia in NA TO.
2. The pro cess of acce ssi on of the co untry to NA TO is
ha ppe ni ng at the sa me ti me as the pro cess of bu ildi -
ng the co untry, armed fo rces, de fe nse re fo rm and
se cu ri ty se ctor. In this pe ri od, the NA TO HQ in BiH
is pro vi di ng he lp in the de fe nse re fo rm of BiH.
3. The po li ti cal and eco no mi cal sta bi li za ti on of the co -
untry and its acce ssi on to NA TO are re ci pro ci ti es
that attra ct and co mple te each other. In the pro cess,
the co untry is mo vi ng from an obje ct of inte rna ti onal
re la ti ons and “se cu ri ty be ne fi ci ary”, to a su bje ct of
inte rna ti onal re la ti ons and “se cu ri ty expo rter”.
4. The ge ne ral co mmi tme nt to BiH to NA TO acce ssi -
on is not a re su lt of a bro ad, de mo cra tic and stra te -
gi ca lly co nsi de red pu blic de ba te. We co uld ra ther say
that BiH “su rre nde red wi tho ut a fi ght” into be ing a
NA TO ca ndi da te, as a co nse qu ence of “wa rri ors be -
ing ti red” from the pre vi ous co nfli ct, which exha -
usted eve rythi ng, so the NA TO “sa fe ty umbre lla”
po sed itse lf as a so lu ti on for all fo rme rly co nfli cted
si des and po st-war po li ti cal fi gu res in the co untry.
5. BiH me mbe rship in NA TO re co nci les two po li ti cal
co nce pts that BiH has pe re nni ally be en to rn be twe -
en — the alli ance of Eu ro pe and the USA.
6. One spe ci fi ci ty in Bi H’s pa th to NA TO li es also in the
fa ct that BiH inco rpo ra ted its co mmi tme nt to fu ll
NA TO me mbe rship as its fi nal go al into the Law on
De fe nse of BiH, a fa ct that gi ves this pro cess an obli -
ga to ry ele me nt that ca nnot be fo und in other co -
untri es. Na me ly, in Arti cle 84 under the ti tle
Acti vi ti es for Acce ssi on to NA TO of the De fe nse Law
of BiH, ado pted in 2005, it is wri tten: “The Pa rli ame -
nta ry Asse mbly, the Co uncil of Mi ni ste rs BiH, the
Pre si de ncy, and all su bje cts of de fe nse wi ll co ndu ct
the ne ce ssa ry acti vi ti es for BiH acce ssi on to NA TO,
in the fra me wo rk of the ir own co nsti tu ti onal and le -
gal ju ri sdi cti on,.” 6
One thi ng is ce rta in, in the sho rt te rm, BiH wi ll pro fit
from NA TO me mbe rship (in te rms of inner sta bi li ty, eco -
no mic de ve lo pme nt and de mo cra ti za ti on), whi le in the
lo ng te rm, this me mbe rship wi ll ce rta inly bri ng new cha -
lle nges and te mpta ti ons which at this mo me nt ca nnot be
pe rce ived, be ca use they de pe nd on the di re cti on NA TO
wi ll ta ke as a mi li ta ry-po li ti cal alli ance in the fu tu re.
* * *
In this pa rt we ana lyze the po li ti cal age ndas of pa rli ame -
nta ry pa rti es in Re pu bli ka Srpska in co nne cti on to BiH
acce ssi on to NA TO. The fi rst thi ng that can be no ted is
that this qu esti on do es not ho ld a spe ci al pla ce on the
wri tten age ndas of po li ti cal pa rti es, or is co mple te ly le -
ft out and inclu ded only in su ppo rti ng pa rty do cu me nts
li ke spe ci al sta te me nts or the occa si onal press re le ase.
Be ca use of ta cti cal and ma rke ti ng re aso ns, the pa rti es in
Re pu bli ka Srpska do not empha si ze this qu esti on, pro -
ba bly ta ki ng into co nsi de ri ng that it wo uld not ende ar
them to vo te rs. The Uni on of Inde pe nde nt So ci al De -
mo cra ts, the stro nge st and mo st influ enti al pa rty in Re -
pu bli ka Srpska in the ir la st po li ti cal age nda, in the pa rt
ti tled Go als of Po li ti cal Acti vi ti es, pre se nts the 32 ma in
po li ti cal go als which this pa rty wi ll advo ca te for in the
po li ti cs of Re pu bli ka Srpska and BiH. Only one item,
under nu mber 12, addre sses the se cu ri ty issue, no ti ng
that the “SNSD is advo ca ti ng for de mi li ta ri za ti on of
BiH. To re ach this go al, Armed Fo rces of BiH ha ve to
be fu rther re du ced in nu mber, co mple te ly pro fe ssi onal,
and wi th ba sic mi ssi ons in glo bal pe ace ope ra ti ons and
assi sta nce in re mo vi ng co nse qu ences of na tu ral di sa ste -
rs. The system of se cu ri ty, wi th pri nci ples of effi ci ency
and ra ti ona li ty, has to be in se rvi ce of the co untry and 17