Sarajevo  - NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, speaking in Sarajevo on Thursday, urged Bosnia to implement reforms so it can join the NATO defence alliance.

Bosnian authorities have to implement all required reforms, especially judicial and constitutional ones, in order to join NATO, Scheffer said, as he offered any assistance possible in meeting those goals.

"The only way for the permanent stability and safety of this region, and not just Bosnia, is European integration," he said after meeting with Bosnian officials in Sarajevo.

"There are conditions and forms that have to be met in order for Bosnia to join NATO," Scheffer was quoted as saying. I believe that Bosnia will soon become a member of NATO, he added.

Bosnia has been a member of the NATO-led Partnership for Peace since 2006, but the international community is demanding political and military reforms in order for Bosnia to join NATO proper. So far, the reforms are stalled because of fractured governance system.

After the 1992-95 war, Bosnia was divided into two largely autonomous parts - the Serbian Republic and the Muslim-Croat Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The country is led by a tripartite presidency representing the three nations - Muslims, Serbs and Croats.(dpa)