B&H Defense Minister Sifet Podžić today praised the recent bilateral meetings in Montenegro and Serbia, as well as the regional meeting of defense ministers of the Western Balkan countries in Austria.

He stated that the education and assistance of the armed forces of B&H and Montenegro is well realized, and that the ministries of the two countries have very good relations.

He added that he gladly accepted the new forms of cooperation proposed by the Montenegrin Ministry of Defense, as well as the support expressed for B&H's path to NATO membership.

Podžić stated that he talked with the Minister of Defense of Serbia, Nebojša Stefanović, about the upcoming exercise "Manjača 21", which he hopes will not be canceled due to the epidemiological situation.

He pointed out that they agreed that there are issues on which there will never be a unified position, such as the genocide in Srebrenica or the provision of asylum in Serbia to war crimes suspects while members of the BiH Army are arrested while crossing the border.

- We agreed that judicial institutions should be left to deal with things from our recent past and that we should turn to the threats that we must approach together - said Podžić.

He emphasized that a declaration on cooperation between the countries of the Western Balkans in Austria was signed at the meeting of defense ministers, and new forms of cooperation were discussed.

He also specified that the representative of the European Agency for Defense Cooperation informed the ministers about the progress made in the formation of a new European army.