”The Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in the Republic of Austria worked in difficult conditions during the pandemic, which changed the plans we had, although it was not closed on any day during the pandemic in terms of consular affairs. Regarding the regular affairs of the Embassy, which concern the representation of the country through diplomatic and consular activities, despite the difficulties caused by the pandemic, it worked at full capacity, ” it was said in an interview with agency Fena by BiH Ambassador to Austria Kemal Kozaric.
He stressed that the Embassy of BiH in Vienna is in daily contact with BiH citizens living and working in Austria, primarily in the field of consular issues, within which daily efforts are made to resolve issues in this domain in the best and fastest possible way to meet the needs of BiH citizens.
Kozaric noted that in the period from 2018 to 2020, the Embassy processed and issued 9.127 travel documents and 1.400 travel documents, and processed 953 cases related to renunciation of citizenship of BiH. As Kozaric pointed out, this is a fact that unfortunately indicates that a large number of BiH citizens in recent years renounced the citizenship of our country and took the citizenship of the Republic of Austria.
There is also an application on the Embassy’s website through which appointments can be obtained electronically for the purpose of resolving issues from the consular domain, which has reduced waiting times to a minimum.
”I would like to point out that about 170.000 people from BiHlive and work in the Republic of Austria, of which about 97.000 are citizens of BiH and more than 70.000 have acquired Austrian citizenship. According to our data, about 3.000 students study in Austria at universities across the country that are among the best at their faculties, ” said Kozaric.
The Ambassador of BiH to the Republic of Austria said that the Embassy of BiH will continue to promote the values of BiH and will use every opportunity to promote the economic potential and cultural heritage of BiH.
”Unfortunately, as I have already mentioned, the pandemic has stopped a large number of activities in the past period and focused our work more on resolving consular issues, but our plans and cooperation with relevant entities in these areas continue, and the implementation of plans will be achieved as soon as the current pandemic situation allows it. It should be emphasized that the non-adoption of the budget of the BiH institutions, as well as the fact that the budget of the BiH Embassy in the Republic of Austria does not plan items related to the promotion of economic, cultural, and sports activities, makes work in this area difficult, ” he explained.
E. Dz.
Source: Avaz
