GOGANOVIĆ: THE REFORM PROGRAM DEFINES COOPERATION WITH NATO, NOT MEMBERSHIP

ISTOČNO SARAJEVO, FEBRUARY 10 /SRNA/ - The Reform Program of BiH clearly defines a framework for cooperation with NATO, not a process of integration or membership, said Deputy Minister of Defence in the Council of Ministers Aleksandar Goganović.

"Irresponsible individuals from political Sarajevo and the opposition are spreading false claims that the Reform Program is a step toward NATO membership, even though it is evident they have not even read the document. Such statements damage cooperative relations," Goganović told SRNA. Goganović, who is also Deputy Chairman of the Commission for Cooperation with NATO, recalled that during the previous year he spoke with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinska, and that on that occasion it was clearly confirmed that cooperation is the framework of relations between BiH and NATO. He added that there are attempts to politicize the issue of cooperation with NATO with the aim of creating unnecessary tensions and undermining the partnership, but that such attempts have no support either in the institutions of Republika Srpska or among NATO representatives.