The members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Željko Komšić, Denis Bećirović and Željka Cvijanović met with the President of the Republic of France Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Thursday.
Member of the Presidency Željka Cvijanović, after the meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, said that she had the opportunity to clarify the position of Republika Srpska, which is that “the RS defends the constitutionality of BiH and is not a disruptive factor”.
She pointed out that the members of the Presidency had a constructive meeting with Macron.
“All those stories with which the Republika Srpska is trying to be slandered, that is, to show it as a disruptive factor, are untruths. I explained that the RS stands for the functioning of Bosnia and Herzegovina in accordance with the Constitution,” stated Cvijanović.
She pointed out that “there is no place for foreign governors in BiH, who would not be able to act like that in any other country in Europe”.
She emphasized that RS is for the adoption of 14 priorities.
Denis Bećirović, a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, after his conversation with Macron, in a video statement, emphasized that after important visits to the headquarters of NATO and the European Union in Brussels, and then to Washington, London, Ankara and other world power centers, it was the turn of Paris, where BiH is in the center of attention after a long time and representatives of our country have the opportunity to talk with world leaders.
“It is particularly important that today I received firm support from the President of France, the most powerful military power in the European Union, for preserving the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. I am encouraged by Macron’s messages, and especially by the announcement of concrete aid. I continue with intensive activities to strengthen relations with our strategic partners,” said Bećirović.
As he said, Macron informed that the BiH Presidency is ready for deepening cooperation and that it supported the strengthening of the engagement of the French Agency for Development in BiH.
“In the coming period, we want to strengthen those relations. Good political relations between our two countries are a good basis for strengthening economic cooperation as well. We exported 389 million BAM to France and imported about 500 million BAM, and we want to strengthen foreign trade exchange and attract French investments to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Our task is to build an alliance between BiH and France” said Bećirović.
He added that one of BiH’s interests is the strengthening of cooperation with France in the field of defense, justice and security.
The chairman of BiH presidency Željko Komšić said that Macron was open and honest, and that three members of the BiH Presidency expressed their views on the current situation in BiH and what is happening on the European path of our country.
“I would like to note that in his opening address, Macron immediately referred to the situation, i.e., the announcement of secession from the RS and said that France supports the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina as an integral state. Rhetoric from Republika Srpska is not acceptable for them,” said Komšić.
The meeting lasted longer than planned, and a lot of time was devoted to the European Union, that is, the European path of BiH.
“There was also talk about the current situation, not only the candidate list but also about the vaguely defined start of negotiations, yes-no, no-no. The official position of France is that France supports 14 proposals from the Opinion of the European Commission and that without this BiH will not be able to move towards the EU In that way, so to speak, the ball was returned to our court, which is logical and normal, with a message that is not so explicitly said, but can be extracted from what we have been doing – Bosnia and Herzegovina must make serious progress when it comes to the 14 priorities from Opinions of the EC,” added Komšić.
He says that everyone is aware that there are easier and more difficult issues and that everything cannot be done overnight, but without solving the 14 priorities there will be no progress.
“Macron said that in 2018 he was against EU enlargement, but after everything that is happening in Europe and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he changed his position and now supports enlargement,” concluded Komšić for Klix.ba.
