The Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of B&H Zlatko Lagumdžija received yesterday, in separate meetings, the inaugural visit of the Ambassador of Italy Ruggero Corrias and the Ambassador of Slovakia Jan Pšenica.
Lagumdžija welcomed Ambassador Corrias to B&H and expressed his satisfaction because B&H and Italy have friendly relations and there are no open issues, and he hopes that Italy would continue to support the development of a functional B&H and its inclusion in the Euro Atlantic integration talks, and especially in the period from July-December 2014, when Italy would preside over the EU.
He pointed out that Italy is an important economic partner of B&H, and expressed hope that the newly-named Ambassador would continue the efforts to increase the volume of trade, for which there is mutual interest, and to establish cooperation in the energy sector, for which Italy is particularly interested.
Ambassador Corrias agreed with the assessment of Lagumdžija on the quality of relations between B&H and Italy and said that he would strive to deepen the bonds of friendship between the two countries in all fields.
Minister Lagumdžija welcomed Ambassador Pšenica to B&H and wished his success in his work. He expressed the conviction that Ambassador Pšenica, as someone who understands the situation in our country, would work in the best way he could to improve relations between our two countries.
During the discussion Lagumdžija particularly stressed the importance of the further development of economic cooperation between B&H and Slovakia, and pointed out that it is equally as important to support our country in the process of coming closer to Euro Atlantic integration, especially through the active cooperation of experts within the Višegrad group and the realization of the idea of establishing a permanent base of the Višegrad group experts for EU accession negotiations.
Ambassador Pšenica thanked Dr. Lagumdžija for the warm welcome and stressed his country’s commitment for improving the relations with B&H at all levels and for the unconditional support to B&H on the path the EU membership, announced the B&H Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
