Chairman of Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zeljko Komsic met today with Austrian President Alexander van der Bellen in Vienna and during a lengthy and open conversation, the interlocutors exchanged views on political and social processes in Europe and the region.
The interlocutors assessed bilateral cooperation between Austria and Bosnia and Herzegovina as excellent, and expressed satisfaction with the overall relations between the two countries, especially because Austria is the largest investor in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It was pointed out that Bosnia and Herzegovina has a surplus in economic relations with the Republic of Austria. On the other hand, expectations were expressed about further investments in BiH, especially in the wood industry.
Also, it was emphasized that some 200,000 Bosnians live and work Austria.
Both sides emphasized the extraordinary friendly, cultural, historical and educational ties between the two countries.
Informing the Austrian president about the political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chairman Komsic warned that the reasons for not forming the government are of a deeper political nature, emphasizing that some political actors do not respect the laws and decisions of the institutions of BiH regarding Euro-Atlantic integrations, even though they were adopted and signed precisely by the same political factors.
He said that it is impossible for Bosnia and Herzegovina to go back, especially in the field of NATO integration, and added that he did not see a reason for interrupting Bosnia and Herzegovina’s path to NATO.
Chairman Komsic emphasized that Austria’s military neutrality, which is being misused in BiH’s political discourse as an alleged argument against BiH’s NATO integration, cannot be linked to the political intentions of opponents of NATO integration in BiH, because it is a completely different understanding of neutrality.
