Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH Denis Zvizdić, together with prime ministers of the region, participated in the Summit of Leaders of the Western Balkan countries that was held in the Elysee Palace in Paris.
Host of the summit was the French President Francois Hollande and the gathering was attended by the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
At the plenary session it was talked about the European perspective of the region and cooperation in the domain of migrations, security and fight against terrorism. The French President Francois Hollance held the introductory speech and on that occasion said that the Western Balkans has a clear European perspective and encouraged the countries to continue with EU integration.
While addressing the attendees, the Chairman Zvizdić congratulated the President Hollande on the excellent organization of the Summit and on the great hospitality. Zvizdić highlighted that only several days ago the BREXIT occurred, opening numerous dilemmas and issues. Zvizdić said that at this moment no one can foresee with certainty all consequences of this event, but that he is sure that many citizens of the European Union, as well as the countries of the Western Balkans, were sad in the moment when the referendum results were being published.
“Precisely in that context we, prime ministers of the Western Balkans, see this Summit, and especially its messages, as a powerful impulse to our European perspective, for further economic and democratic development and regional connecting that leads towards greater levels of cooperation, mutual understanding, and trust. For us in BiH, as well as for the entire area of the European continent that I come from, membership in the EU is not just a geostrategic, political or economic goal. For us, membership in the EU is a synonym of stability and peace, strengthening of the rule of law and the real democratization of our society as a process that represents the conditio sine qua non of our development,” said Zvizdić.
Zvizdić also said that the European Union is the most important foreign policy priority and that BiH, regardless of the problems, is fully committed to continuing the work on finding solutions persistently and to further acceleration of the EU integration of BiH.
Zvizdić expressed the belief that European Union is not complete without the countries of the Western Balkans and expressed hope that the enlargement policy towards countries of the Western Balkans will remain in the focus of the EU policy, which is important for the prosperous future of our region.
(Source: faktor.ba/photo: e-vijesti.com)
