Bosnian Experts Expect Little From NATO Chief's Visit

The secretary-general of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, will visit Bosnia early in February, when officials are expected to update him on the improvements the country has made on the path to NATO membership.

However, experts have warned that because of a dispute over the involvement of Bosnia's armed forces in last week's banned holiday in Republika Srpska, as well as stalled progress on registering military property - the key condition for activating NATO's Membership Action Plan - the meeting may not result in a significant step forward.

The completion last November of a defence review that allows for the development of the Bosnian armed forces over the next 10 years was a positive step, said Denis Hadzovic, a security expert from Sarajevo's Centre for Security Studies.

"On the other side, there was a huge problem with the celebration of [the disputed holiday on] January 9 [in Republika Srpska]," he said, which represented "a political conflict between the Federation and Republika Srpska" - the two entities that make up Bosnia.

Bosnia's Ministry of Defence has been caught in the middle of this row, after members of the Third Infantry Regiment, made up of RS soldiers, took part in last Monday's celebration of Republika Srpska Day, which Bosnia's Constitutional Court deems illegal.

Soldiers had been urged by both the Ministry of Defence and the commander of NATO's Sarajevo HQ not to participate in the event.

The chairman of the Joint Commission for Defence and Security, Sifet Podzic, told the media that he hoped a session this Monday would help clarify confusion surrounding the event, about which several conflicting announcements have been made by ministry officials.

During the row, the president of Republika Srpska, Milorad...