The Advisory Council for Bosnia and Herzegovina (ACBH) applauds the efforts of Senator Richard Lugar (R-Indiana), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in introducing the "NATO Enhancement Act" a bill that re-affirms the "open door" policy for all qualified nations to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and declares for the first time in U.S. legislation that all four nations currently seeking accession to NATO (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Macedonia, and Montenegro) are to be considered NATO "aspirants."

In addition, the bill designates Bosnia and Herzegovina as eligible to receive U.S. assistance geared towards NATO accession under the 1994 NATO Participation Act and urges President Obama to provide a clear roadmap for the accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Macedonia, and Montenegro to NATO at the Chicago Summit in May 2012. The bill also states that some of the assistance that BiH receives will be in part directed towards encouraging and assisting the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina in its efforts to place all immovable defense property under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense in order to fulfill the requirements to join the NATO Membership Action Plan.

"Senator Lugar has been a champion for NATO enlargement and we are very pleased with this bill. We hope that BiH resolves the military defense property issue as soon as possible so that MAP can be granted to BiH" said ACBH Board of Directors member and General Counsel, Djenita Pasic.