Minister of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina Sifet Podžić received today in Sarajevo the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Austria Klaudia Tanner, with whom he discussed work on joint projects and the improvement of bilateral cooperation.

Minister Tanner said that she chose B&H as the first country to visit Austrian troops, because she believes that Austria has very good relations with its neighbors in the Balkans, especially in B&H.

She believes that the Western Balkans is very important for Austria, and said that they are monitoring the situation and that they are militarily present.

She thanked for the support that B&H provides to the Austrian contingent of EUFOR, and pointed out that B&H and Austria have special relations, which is reflected in the organization of various operations in various fields.

-The focus of our bilateral cooperation is the training of B&H cadets at the Theresian Military Academy, where 18 B&H cadets are currently staying. The training is going very well and I was told that the performance of these cadets is very good- said the Minister.

She added that the Austrian Federal Army supports B&H in other areas as well, such as the continued training of members of the AFB&H, ammunition storage and the exchange of instructors.

She announced deepening of relations and strengthening of cooperation in order to overcome challenges, as in the case of a pandemic or migration of the population.

Minister Podžić pointed out that the Republic of Austria plays an important role in the EU, the Western Balkans and B&H, and added that the cooperation between the two ministries is an example to others.

However, he stressed that the pandemic had limited them and that they had postponed some planned tasks, but announced to organize 20 activities in B&H and 25 in Austria by the end of this year.

Podžić especially praised the cooperation in the field of educating cadets at the Theresian Military Academy, which has had 19 cadets so far, and announced the continuation of education after 2022.