BiH Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmedin Konaković expressed his satisfaction with the “work done” at the Munich Security Conference.
On his return from Munich, he told Fena news agency that the security conference in Munich was dominated by the topics of Ukraine and Gaza, “and as far as we are concerned, we used the opportunity in two directions, one is to inform the members of the European Union about what is happening in BiH and to report on positive progress related to the adoption of the Law on Prevention of Money Laundering and the opening of negotiations with Frontex”.
“We really met the satisfaction of all the member countries of the European Union who, it seems to me, want to see Bosnia and Herzegovina in this process,” said Konaković.
According to him, these large gatherings are also used to achieve better bilateral relations with countries that are further away, with which we cannot meet so often. He spoke with the foreign ministers of Canada, Iceland… There are, he says, some things that have points of contact with Bosnia and Herzegovina, with Canada especially regarding cooperation with NATO and the future integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina into NATO.
“I can say that we are satisfied with the work done, there were a large number of meetings on the sidelines. There were many important political figures of the world, presidents and prime ministers of countries, ministers of foreign affairs. I can say that this conference was very successful,” he said.
Asked if we can be optimistic that BiH could open negotiations on membership with the European Union in March, Konaković says that if the laws that are in the procedure are adopted – on conflict of interest, changes to the electoral law in the part of the integrity and protection of the electoral process, and the law on courts – “then they could be very confident and look forward to the March session of the European Council with a lot of optimism”.
“The reactions were very positive, most are looking for a way for BiH to formally start negotiations, but we have that part of our obligations that we need to fulfill and which are really not that demanding this time. I think that what is required of us is simple homework and the responsibility of local leaders in this process is great. I don’t know why any of us would manage to spoil an opportunity like this. Then we really run into big problems, first of all economic, which will surely further cause the departure of young people from Bosnia and Herzegovina. And I hope that the leaders of the political parties are thinking about it,” Konaković concluded in a statement for Fena.
