By: Nevena Šarenac
The foreign affairs ministers of B&H and Montenegro, Zlatko Lagumdžija and Igor Lukšić, respectively, said today in Sarajevo that these two countries have bilateral relations that are an example to all other countries in the region, as well as beyond, and said that they would do everything to further improve relations, especially in the areas of economy, infrastructure and education.
During the meeting the two ministers spoke about a number of topics, and that one of them, which is of crucial importance for citizens of both countries, would receive its epilogue by the end of the year.
Specifically, Minister Lagumdžija said that by the end of the year they could expect a signed agreement on cross-border cooperation between B&H and Croatia.
“Our expert group is finalizing the process of marking and concluding an agreement on cross-state borders of B&H and Montenegro’’, said Lagumdžija to journalists after the meeting with Lukšić.
He noted that by the end of the year he expects the signing of several more agreements, including the one on the protection of investment, which would give an impetus to the overall economic cooperation between the two countries.
Lagumdžija said that B&H and Montenegro have similar aspirations when it comes to the EU and regional cooperation, and noted that in the next few months there could be a finalization of a Memorandum on cooperation between B&H and Montenegro on their path towards the EU.
At today’s meeting, they spoke of joint infrastructure projects and very concrete actions arising from the fact that companies from B&H and Montenegro are addressed at the institutions when it comes to obtaining the certificates for goods that are subject to rigorous European standards.
‘’In this light, we are also nearing the end of the agreement on the recognition of documents in order to simplify the business of our company’’, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of B&H.
Ministers Lagumdžija and Lukšić discussed issues of regional cooperation, and concluded that they should be given an additional impetus and be focused on three levels-joint cooperation in the domain of institutions, infrastructure projects in the region and the economy.
Lagumdžija thinks that it would be a good principle to raise the level of the CEFTA Agreement.
Given that Minister Lukšić will be the host of a regional meeting of ministers of foreign affairs in New York in one month, Lagumdžija said that it was agreed that until then a concrete action plan should be prepared of joint initiatives from the domain of institutions, infrastructure and the economy.
‘’At the meeting then, some sort of plan of action of new regional dynamics should be made, and all for the purposes of faster accession to the EU’’, he explained.
When asked by reporters whether they discussed the issue of dual citizenship, Lagumdžija said that this is an open issue and that there is an interstate commission that deals with this.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Montenegro Igor Lukšić said that during today’s meeting it was noted that through various forms of regional cooperation they could accelerate the path towards the EU.
‘’No one better than us today can identify the interests of B&H and Montenegro and pursue them better’’, he said to journalists.
Otherwise, the Montenegrin Minister of Foreign Affairs arrived on a two-day visit to our country. He is scheduled to meet with members of the B&H Presidency, members of the House of Representatives of B&H, as well as with the Chairman of the B&H Council of Ministers Vjekoslav Bevanda.
