It is important that we attend events where world leaders gather and that we have a large number of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of these gatherings. We must be present, we must speak about Bosnia and Herzegovina, and not allow more to be said about us without us. I think that so far this inertness of our diplomacy has cost us dearly, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Elmedin Konaković.
According to him, the outlines of this increased communication can already be seen in terms of political attitudes and decisions coming from Brussels, but also from other important centers.
“In a short period of time, as we announced, we managed to bring Bosnia and Herzegovina back into focus and we continue to work on it, and these opportunities allow us to be successful in this,” emphasizes the head of Bosnia and Herzegovina. diplomacy.
Konaković leads numerous activities of the BiH delegation on the sidelines of the session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Among other things, he referred to the meeting organized by the heads of diplomacy of Italy, Croatia and Slovenia with the ministers of foreign affairs of the countries of the Western Balkans.
“These three countries are truly unselfishly advocating the fastest possible accession of our countries to the European Union. We have adopted some concrete conclusions, we have created a working group that will meet within the UN, work together, and lobby for the fastest possible expansion of the Union and the best possible position of our countries in that process,” Minister Konaković points out.
An exceptionally active working day in Bosnia and Herzegovina delegation in New York completed by participating in a meeting on sustainable development and attending an event on artificial intelligence as one of the tools in the development of the economy organized by Japan, the USA, Singapore, Great Britain and some other countries. It was also an opportunity to meet with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who hosted another important event where Minister Konaković was also present. Namely, they talked about the increase in the number of deaths from synthetic drugs and the coalition that Secretary Blinken assembled on behalf of the USA and that is working very well.
“I hope that the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina will accept the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to join that coalition as soon as possible in the fight against synthetic drugs that have taken many lives in the USA, Canada, Mexico and other parts of the world. On the margins of all these meetings, exchanges are very important information and we use every opportunity to familiarize important foreign ministers with the processes in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, says the head of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s diplomacy.
He also participated in an event organized by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and German Minister of Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock, and in his statement Minister Konaković singled out the traditional dinner organized by the Mission of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the UN, where all representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina discussed the activities that they expect in the coming days in New York.
The previous day, a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Liechtenstein was arranged, which is especially important in the context of the fact that this principality takes over the presidency of the Council of Europe from November 15. Bilateral meetings are scheduled for today with the heads of diplomacy of Argentina, Latvia, the United Arab Emirates, the Minister of Tourism of Saudi Arabia, as well as with the High Representative of the EU for the EU’s foreign and security policy, Josep Borrell. Minister Konaković will attend the opening of the debate in the UN General Assembly, Fena reports.
