The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina(BiH), Elmedin Konakovic, participated on Friday in the meeting of the ministers of foreign affairs of the countries of the Western Balkans, as well as the Group ”Friends of the Western Balkans” in Gottweig.
As he told agency Fena, it is a platform that is of great help to BiH on its European path, because these are the countries that are the biggest lobbyists and advocates of that process and were of great help when it comes to obtaining a decision for the beginning of BiH’s negotiations with the European Union (EU).
”These are people who understand the processes in BiH quite well, they understand the advantages, chances, and of course some threats. They advocate our interests within the EU in the right way. Today, normally, on these occasions, we use these specificities to share some of our ideas and thoughts with our colleagues from the region, and indeed each of these meetings is very functional and significant,” said Konakovic.
In addition, during his stay in Gottweig, Minister Konakovicheld a bilateral meeting with the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security, Josep Borrell, whom, as he said, he personally thanked for his very dedicated engagement in the matter of the enlargement of the EU, as well as the decision to let BiH get the final decision on starting negotiations.
He also announced the possibility of holding another big meeting in Brussels during the current convocation of the European Commission.
”Of course, today we informed our colleagues about the blockades that we are seeing again in BiH, about the fact that (Milorad) Dodik, after the meetings with Putin and his return to BiH, is blocking what is very important for all people in BiH, and those who live in the BiH entity Republika Srpska (RS). Of course, we also informed them about possible solutions, all in order to take advantage of this opportunity because Europe is correct and concrete at the moment, they gave us a growth plan, opened an opportunity for the integration of our market,” Konakovic pointed out yesterday.
He says that the politicians who are blocking it, primarily referring to Dodik, are causing great harm to all people in BiH, regardless of which entity they live in.
He reminded that European officials said that more was done in thirteen months than in ten years before. He believes that this is a confirmation of the correctness of the policy of the Coalition of Three, which was a novelty on the political scene. He also stated that those who inhibit and block the processes will pay the price politically.
Photo: Fena/archive
