Research and Markets: Bosnia and Herzegovina Defence and Security Report 2013 Anticipates Defence Spending Of US$185.67mn In 2013

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/2x72r9/bosnia_and) has announced the addition of the "Bosnia and Herzegovina Defence and Security Report 2013" report to their offering.

Bosnia & Herzegovina spent most of 2011 in turmoil after an inconclusive general election result in October 2010 left the country's political leaders squabbling over how best to form a coalition for the best part of 14 months, only resolving the issue in late December 2011 and electing a new government in February 2012. The political parties representing the country's three ethnic groups - Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats - agreed to share power and distribute ministerial posts fairly among themselves, with Vjekoslav Bevanda of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) appointed Prime Minister and the presidency rotating between the parties every eight months (in accordance with the 1995 Dayton Peace Accord). However, cracks began to emerge in 2012, not least in the form of infighting between the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) over the right to represent the country's Muslim population. Their infighting and the SDA's refusal to vote for the 2012 state budget culminated in parliament voting to remove Deputy Finance Minister Fuad Kasumovic, Security Minister Sadik Ahmetovic and Defence Minister Muhamed Ibrahimovic as punishment in mid-October 2012 and could ultimately lead HDZ, the country's leading Croat party, to assume the SDA's position in the ruling coalition.

Assuming Bosnia & Herzegovina does retain its military and its central government manages to stay together, the author anticipates defence spending of US$185.67mn in 2013, a 9.5% decline on the US$205.15mn spent in 2012, which in itself marked a decrease of 12.3% on 2011's US$233.93mn. This will account for just 0.93% of the country's GDP. Bosnia and Herzegovina's military currently consists of around 15,000 active troops, 5,000 reserve troops and 1,000 civilian staff.

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