NATO Says Bosnia "Needs More Work" For Membership

NATO's chief says Bosnia has more work to do before it can take the next step toward NATO membership.

Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters in Brussels that NATO supports Bosnia's aspirations to join but it will "take political efforts, determination, and dialogue" on Bosnia's side to make the necessary progress.

He spoke on the occasion of a visit to NATO headquarters by Bakir Izetbegovic, the Muslim representative in the tripartite Bosnian presidency.

Bosnia was offered a conditional path for membership in 2010, but political infighting between the country's three main ethnic groups -- Muslims, Serbs, and Croats -- has since hampered progress.

With reporting by dpa