The Minister of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zukan Helez, received on Wednesday the Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Walid Haggag, in Sarajevo for an official visit.
During the meeting, the interlocutors discussed opportunities for developing bilateral military cooperation between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Arab Republic of Egypt, based on the proposed Agreement on Defense Cooperation between the Council of Ministers of BiH and the Government of Egypt. Once adopted, the document will represent the first strategic step toward formalizing relations in the security and defense sector.
Ambassador Haggag emphasized that this would be the first agreement of its kind between Bosnia and Herzegovina and an Arab and African country, expressing pride in the significance of the initiative.
In March this year, the Council of Ministers of BiH approved the proposal for the Agreement and forwarded it to the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina for final approval, which was subsequently granted. The Ministry of Defense of BiH has since completed all procedures required for obtaining consent to sign the Agreement, leaving only the formal signing procedure between the participating states.
Following the signing, the ratification process will continue through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Presidency of BiH, after which the Agreement will officially enter into legal force in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Agreement is expected to be signed during Minister Helez’s second official visit to Egypt in June this year, together with Egypt’s Minister of Defense.
“In the past, the economies of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Egypt had much closer cooperation. We believe that such cooperation can now be revived, driven by the achievements of our increasingly improving defense cooperation, and especially by the further development of our defense industry,” said Minister Helez.
Ambassador Haggag thanked Minister Helez for his efforts to strengthen relations between Egypt and Bosnia and Herzegovina, expressing confidence that the upcoming visit to Egypt would further deepen cooperation across multiple sectors. He also noted that Minister Helez is expected to meet with several Egyptian ministers during the visit.
Minister Helez also thanked Ambassador Haggag for the successful organization of the first visit of the BiH Ministry of Defense delegation to Egypt last year, which he described as a major boost to bilateral relations between the two countries.
