The armies of the countries of the Balkans, gathered in a group called "Forum B-9", will continue to cooperate closely to strengthen regional security.
Cooperation will continue in order to help each other in crisis situations caused by natural disasters, it was concluded today in Sarajevo at the meeting of the chiefs of general staff of the armed forces of the countries of the region.
The chiefs of staff of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Turkey, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria and the commander of the NATO command in Naples, Admiral Bruce Klingan, participated in the meeting.
Croatia, which like Slovenia has observer status in this forum, was represented at the level of Deputy Chief of General Staff.
The Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, General Anto Jeleč, thanked all the countries that offered and provided assistance to his country during the floods.
"We must be ready to respond regionally to such challenges in the future," he added. Jeleč also said that participation in joint exercises, the creation of a network of training centers, as well as the exchange of data on various threats are still the basis of the joint action of the B-9 group.
The Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Army, General Ljubiša Diković, said that one of the topics of today's Eighth Conference of the Forum of the Chiefs of Staff of the Balkan Countries in Sarajevo is the formation of joint forces at the regional level that would intervene in the event of natural and other disasters.
"In the first place, all members of the military are in favor of that, and I'm sure that there is also the mood of the governments of all countries in the region," Diković told the Fena agency.
The "B-9 Forum" was established at the initiative of Greece and Turkey in 2006, and the conference of the Chiefs of General Staff is held once a year, local media reported.
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