Members of the Congress of North American Bosniaks appreciate the new initiative for Bosnia and Herzegovina from the US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo. In a letter sent to the members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Secretary Pompeo urged members of the Presidency to adopt the Annual National Program for BiH made by NATO. Secretary Pompeo pointed that the move could “have a positive impact on the transformation and modernization of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina.” In conclusion of the letter, he highlighted Bosnia and Herzegovina as having strategic importance for regional stability and wanted a higher level of cooperation between the United States and Bosnia and Herzegovina, urging members of Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina to submit the Annual National Plan to NATO.

Congress of North American Bosniaks welcomes the new initiative that is timed perfectly, in light of an escalated nationalistic rhetoric from Zagreb and Beograd. We would like to remind the international community that similar nationalist rhetoric in the past that came from Croatian and Serbian government towards Bosnia and Herzegovina ended with bloody aggression and genocide.

The stronger presence of NATO in Balkan region already proved as the only way of keeping peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and surrounding countries. As an organization that advocates for more than 300 thousand American citizens with Bosnian background, we are expressing our appreciation of Secretary Pompeo’s letter and renewed leadership and involvement of the US government in Balkan region.