The Minister of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina has requested in the country to be established NATO base, BNR reported.
During a meeting with NATO representatives in Brussels, the Minister of Defense in the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zukan Helez, demanded the creation of a NATO base in the country, saying that Russia "should not be allowed to penetrate into the heart of Europe through the Western Balkans”, announced Tanyug.
Helez proposed "improving cooperation between Bosnia and Herzegovina and NATO, which would lead to the strengthening of Bosnia and Herzegovina's defense system and the equipping of the armed forces with short- and medium-range anti-tank and anti-aircraft systems", in order to " the unwanted influence of Russia and similar destructive forces in the regions of the Western Balkans was prevented”, announced the Ministry of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Helez claims that the creation of a NATO base in Bosnia and Herzegovina "will stop the spread of destructive influences and provide additional guarantees for the stability, security, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country".
He is said to have informed NATO's supreme commander in Europe, General Christopher Cavoli, that "the political and security situation has deteriorated" in Bosnia and Herzegovina that "these circumstances help Russia to destabilize the region", and NATO "should not remain indifferent to such activities of the Russian Federation".
It is added that Cavoli proposed that Bosnia and Herzegovina be invited for full NATO membership and that it as a NATO member would make this alliance stronger.