Armed forces of Balkan states continue to cooperate closely

SARAJEVO - The armed forces of the Balkan states will continue to cooperate closely within the B-9 forum with a view to strengthening regional security, but also assisting each other in the crisis situations caused by natural disasters, their chiefs of the general staff concluded in a meeting in Sarajevo.

The Wednesday meeting brought together the chiefs of the general staff of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH), Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Turkey, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria and Admiral Bruce Clingan, commander of the Allied Joint Force Command Naples.

Croatia was represented in the meeting by the deputy chief of the general staff, because the country has an observer status in the forum, just as Slovenia.

Anto Jelec, chief of the general staff of the BiH Armed Forces, thanked all states which offered assistance to his country during the recent severe floods. "We must be ready to respond to such challenges at regional level," Jelec said.

He said that the B-9 forum will continue to focus its efforts on holding joint exercises, creating a new network of training centers and exchanging data on various threats.

General Ljubisa Dikovic, the Serbian Armed Forces chief of general staff, told reporters that forming a joint regional force for responding to natural and other disasters was one of the topics discussed at Wednesday's 8th conference of the B-9 forum.

First and foremost, all members of the armed forces are keen on the idea, and I am confident that the governments of all regional countries feel the same, Dikovic told the Fena agency.

The B-9 forum was established on the initiative of Greece and Turkey in 2006, and the chiefs of the general staff meet annually.