Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Elmedin Konakovic speaks during a panel discussion at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Dayton, Ohio, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina Christian Schmidt speaks during a panel discussion at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Dayton, Ohio, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Croatia Gordan Grlic-Radman, center, speaks with High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina Christian Schmidt, left, former U.S. Ambassador to NATO and U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Elmedin Konakovic and former U.S. Ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith during a panel discussion as part of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Dayton, Ohio, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Elmedin Konakovic, right, speaks next to Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Croatia Gordan Grlic-Radman during a panel discussion at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Dayton, Ohio, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
Former U.S. Ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith, right, speaks next to Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Elmedin Konakovic during a panel discussion at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Dayton, Ohio, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina Christian Schmidt, left, speaks with former U.S. Ambassador to NATO and U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison during a panel discussion at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Dayton, Ohio, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Croatia Gordan Grlic-Radman speaks during a panel discussion at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Dayton, Ohio, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
Former U.S. Ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith speaks during a panel discussion at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Dayton, Ohio, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO and U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison speaks during a panel discussion at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Dayton, Ohio, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO and U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, second from right, speaks during a panel discussion with High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina Christian Schmidt, left, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Croatia Gordan Grlic-Radman, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Elmedin Konakovic and former U.S. Ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith as part of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Dayton, Ohio, on Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
At commemoration of Dayton Peace Accords, Balkan and US officials say NATO helps maintain peace
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) 鈥 Representatives of Balkan nations that benefited from the 30-year-old Dayton Peace Accords joined Americans of both political parties on Friday to affirm the value of NATO to maintaining peace around the world.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Elmedin Konakovic speaks during a panel discussion at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Dayton, Ohio, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
By Julie Carr Smyth And Patrick Aftoora-orsagos The Associated Press
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) 鈥 Representatives of Balkan nations that benefited from the 30-year-old Dayton Peace Accords joined Americans of both political parties on Friday to affirm the value of NATO to maintaining peace around the world.
U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker told a public forum at the University of Dayton held in conjunction with the being held this week in the Ohio city that there’s 鈥渘o doubt鈥 that the U.S., as the world’s leading superpower, will be challenged in the future and it’s 鈥済oing to need friends.鈥
“NATO is a great alliance to get together with our friends and our allies and make sure that we’re as strong as we possibly can be so we can have peace for generations to come,鈥 he said, while at the same time emphasizing the on European allies to spend more on military defense.
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NATO was created in 1949 to provide collective security against the Soviet Union and now comprises 32 nations. U.S. Reps. Rick Larsen, a Washington Democrat, and Neal Dunn, a Florida Republican, also defended the value of U.S. membership in the peacetime military alliance during a panel titled, 鈥淲hy NATO Matters to Everyday Americans.鈥
Both also spoke in support of U.S. and NATO support for Ukraine, characterizing its victory against Russia in as crucial to European stability and to deterring future invasions by other nations, particularly China.
鈥淣ATO is a blessing for peace, and it is the best insurance for peace,鈥 Dunn said.
A panel earlier in the day drove home that point, as representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia discussed the lasting impacts of the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords, negotiated at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base not far from the parliamentary gathering site.
鈥淚 can tell you how close the value of the peace is to all of us,” said Elmedin Konakovic, foreign affairs minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who was a 17-year-old soldier at the time of the Bosnian war. He said the importance of the deal struck in Dayton, with the help of military and diplomatic interventions by the U.S. and NATO, was 鈥渕assive.鈥
鈥淚t鈥檚 important, especially today, because we can see pictures now 鈥 from Ukraine, from Gaza, from Sudan, from other places 鈥 and peace is possible,鈥 he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 sitting today and negotiating the future of my country with the people I was literally fighting against 30 years ago, and it鈥檚 much better than war, trust me. It鈥檚 complex, it鈥檚 complicated, it鈥檚 not easy. We have many political issues, but it鈥檚 much better than war.”
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Some who were in official roles during the Bosnian war were in attendance, including former U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, former U.S. ambassador to NATO, who moderated the discussion. She recalled a trip to Sarajevo during which touring lawmakers witnessed how the devastated capital city had turned its former Olympic Stadium into a massive burial ground.
Hutchison invited former Ambassador Peter Galbraith to the stage and acknowledged the presence of retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark, former Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO.
The five-day anniversary event culminates in a plenary session Monday. The gathering of about 300 parliamentarians and other guests was spearheaded by Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, who was mayor of Dayton when the accords were negotiated and now heads America’s NATO parliamentary delegation.
Several speakers on the morning panel, entitled 鈥淒ayton Accords 30 Years Later & Goals of Tomorrow,鈥 spoke in favor of membership in NATO for Bosnia and Herzegovina, as it continues to resolve issues left unaddressed by the 1995 pact 鈥 a temporary solution whose framework remains generally in place today.
