Bosnia and Herzegovina is a small country located in the Western Balkans. It has a population of 3.5 million people and an area of 51,129 km2. The country is divided into two administrative entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska, which are further subdivided into cantons and municipalities. The military of Bosnia and Herzegovina is known as the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AFBiH). It consists of an army, air force, navy, border police, special forces, civil defense forces, and other paramilitary units. The AFBiH is responsible for defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina from external threats. The defense budget for 2021 was set at $717 million USD with additional funding provided for equipment upgrades. NATO also helps to provide training to the AFBiH personnel as part of their Partnership for Peace program. See naturegnosis to learn more about the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Defense
As a result of the Dayton Agreement in 1995, the same year, an armor-restriction agreement was concluded which, with the aim of achieving a better military balance of power in the former Yugoslavia, regulated the maximum number of tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, fighter aircraft and armed helicopters in former Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro). The agreement also regulates how Bosnia and Herzegovina’s numbers are to be distributed between the Serbian and Muslim Croat forces in the country. Bosnia and Herzegovina as a whole is entitled to have a maximum of 410 tanks, 340 armored vehicles, 1,500 artillery pieces, 62 fighter planes and 21 armed helicopters. One third of these forces are recognized in the Serbian region. Reorganization to achieve these goals, mainly involving disarmament for the Serbian forces and upgrading for the rest. To see related acronyms about this country, please check ABBREVIATIONFINDER where you can see that BIH stands for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In the years 2006–07, all combat forces were organized in a state-controlled defense force. At the same time, the state armed forces formally ceased. The Armed Forces comprise (2007) 12,000 men, with a reserve of about 6,000 men, organized in an army of three mechanized brigades (194 tanks) and one air division (17 fighter aircraft). The material is semi-modern and of former Soviet and Western origin. Defense costs decreased in 1996-2007 from 6.3% to 0.8% of GDP.
During 2001, the privatizations of companies and especially banks increased. This process had begun two years earlier with a World Bank loan. All the communist-era exchange offices were now closed, and in previous years the country had been completely dependent on reconstruction assistance from the international community, but this could be foreseen to be drastically reduced in subsequent years.
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Although the number of foreign forces in the country over the years had been reduced from 60,000 to just under 18,000, the United States wanted to withdraw its 3,000 soldiers, which in February 2002 prompted Petritsch to declare that Bosnia and Herzegovina was still far from a state that could stand on its own. Acc. his assessment would take 3-4 years before the country could function independently without the need for international administration.
The October 2002 election marked a return to the nationalist parties whose representatives occupied all three seats in the presidential office. The return of the nationalists was mainly due to the meager results the non-nationalists had achieved.
In 2003, Mirko Sarovic resigned from the presidential rotation scheme after a Western intelligence agency accused him of being involved in the illegal sale of weapons to Iraq, as well as in espionage against international officials. His post was taken over by Borislav Paravac. That same year, International High Commissioner Paddy Ashdown dissolved Srpska’s top defense council, and at the same time got all references to the state from Bosnia-Herzegovina’s laws.
In April 2003, Commander Naser Oricfue was arrested and charged before the War Criminal Court in The Hague for “violation of the laws of war”. Including killings, persecution, destruction and searches of Serbs in Srebrenica in 1992-95. The court decided not to conduct its proceedings in public.
In August, a ceremony entitled “For Hope and Atonement” was held at the bridge in Mostar. At the same time, the foundation stone was laid for the reconstruction of the bridge. Originally built in the 16th century, the bridge was declared a UNESCO historic monument and was one of the most beautiful monuments destroyed by Croatian forces in 1993 after surviving many of the region’s conflicts – including World War I and World War II. The city of Mostar had no strategic or military significance and over the centuries has become a symbol of tolerance and diversity among the people of Mostar.
In June 2004, the next 70 government officials, including 2 political leaders, were removed from their positions because of the failure to arrest the Bosnian Serb leader, Radovan Karadzic, who is accused of numerous war crimes. Parliament spokesman Dragan Kalinic and Interior Minister Zoran Djeric were removed from their posts. High Commissioner Ashdown stated that he wanted to punish a “small clique of corrupt politicians” that made it difficult for Bosnia to join NATO and the EU sometime in the future. Another step was to penalize Serbia’s Democratic Party founded by Karadzic in 1990. As an international representative, Ashdown had according to. The Dayton Peace Agreement of 1995 provided sufficient powers to take these steps. The High Commissioner stated at the same time,
In July 2004, after major festivities, the government opened the rebuilt bridge in Mostar.
In August, several hundred corpses were excavated from a mass grave at a coal mine in Miljevina, located near Foca, ca. 70 km southeast of Sarajevo. Shortly before, 100 other corpses had been found in the same area. Foce was one of the first cities to be occupied by Bosnian Serbs in 1992. It was therefore believed that the bodies belonged to persons who had been killed during the clashes.