Foreign Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Igor Crnadak arrived in Helsinki, where he will participate in an informal meeting of the European Union Foreign Affairs Council.
Minister Crnadak was welcomed by Finland’s Foreign Minister, who holds the EU presidency, Peka Havisto and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogerini.
An informal meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council began, and before the meeting, Minister Crnadak had brief meetings with European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy Johannes Hahn and Slovakia’s Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairman Miroslav Lajcak.
Ministers Crnadak and Lajcak agreed to open a BiH Honorary Consulate in Senec near Bratislava together on Thursday, September 5th.
The foreign ministers will also look at developments in the Middle East, with the focus on the Persian Gulf region and Iran, and views will be shared on the Arctic, given climate change and the region’s increasing geopolitical role.
The Gymnich meetings traditionally have a joint session of EU foreign ministers with foreign ministers from EU candidate countries. On this occasion, a discussion is planned with the foreign ministers of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and North Macedonia on regional cooperation with the Western Balkans countries.
Background information
The informal meeting referred to as the ‘Gymnich’ is a regular gathering of the EU foreign affairs ministers, organised by the Presidency of the Council of the EU on a semi-annual basis. The meetings are chaired by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and they feature strategic discussions on the goals and instruments of EU foreign and security policy.
