Press Release

02 April 2004

SFOR Congratulates New NATO Members

Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina - Today, at Camp Butmir, Commander Stabilisation Force (COMSFOR), Major General Virgil Packett II, marked the accession to full NATO membership of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

The event was attended by senior SFOR officers from Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. At the ceremony COMSFOR stated that "the benefits that these new members bring to the NATO alliance are demonstrated by their active participation in peacekeeping operations. These countries have taken advantage of their own freedom to contribute to the peace and freedom of other people. Today NATO is in Bosnia assisting the country on its path to PfP; a measure of this success is that today Bosnia is already preparing elements of its own forces to contribute to peace keeping operations. It can take inspiration from these counties, some near neighbours, and their bold leaders who took the first steps on the road to full NATO membership a decade ago".

The Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) have all contributed to the success of SFOR's peace-keeping mission, forming part of the NORDPOL Battle group in Doboj. Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia continue to play a key role in the mission, particularly within the Multinational Specialised Unit and SFOR Headquarters, together they number some 350 soldiers in the force.