Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina
combined military forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Serbo-Croatian: Oružane snage Bosne i Hercegovine, Оружане снаге Босне и Херцеговине; abbreviated as OSBiH, ОСБиХ) is the official military force of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The BiH armed forces were officially unified in 2005 and are composed of two founding armies: the Bosniak and Bosnian Croat Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (VFBiH) and the Bosnian Serbs' Army of Republika Srpska (VRS).
The Ministry of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, founded in 2004, is in charge of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Chain of command
In accordance with the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Article 5.5a), Bosnian Law of defense and Bosnian Law of service, the supreme civilian commander of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the collective Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The collective Presidency directs the Ministry of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Armed Forces. Former Bosnia and Herzegovina ministers of defence include Nikola Radovanović, Selmo Cikotić, Muhamed Ibrahimović, Zekerijah Osmić, Marina Pendeš and Sifet Podžić. As of 2023, the minister is Zukan Helez. Former Chiefs of Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina include Lieutenant colonel general Sifet Podžić, Lieutenant colonel general Miladin Milojčić, Lieutenant colonel general Anto Jeleč and Colonel general Senad Mašović. The current Chief of Joint Staff is General Gojko Knežević. Conscription was completely abolished in Bosnia and Herzegovina effective 1 January 2006.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina” is combined military forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Armed, Forces and Bosnia, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “combined military forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q276294. None of the 2 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2005, 2004, 2023 and 2006.
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This entry incorporates text from “Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.