Speaking about the results of the past year, BiH Foreign Minister Bisera Turkovic emphasized the very intensive diplomatic activities that have resulted in increased attention and activity of the international community in resolving the imposed blockades and the crisis caused in BiH.
During the past year, we visited key multilateral organizations in the world: the UN, we addressed the Security Council session on the situation in BiH, we visited the EU, NATO, OIC, World Bank, OSCE, had talks with WHO, UNFPA … I met with UN and NATO Secretaries General Antonio Guterres and Jens Stoltenberg, had regular meetings with European Commission Vice-Presidents and Commissioners (Johnason, Lenarcic, Varhelyi), participated in key EU-Western Balkans conferences in Brussels, Berlin, London, Brdo Kranj and Vienna “, Turkovic singled out.
She added that she held a total of 34 official, bilateral talks and meetings with foreign ministers, including ministers from Germany, Great Britain, France, Japan, Turkey, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Qatar, Hungary, the Netherlands, Greece and Sweden. , Montenegro, Serbia, Croatia, United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Oman, Bahrain, Luxembourg, Northern Macedonia, Slovakia …
Turkovic said that they hosted 30 high-level delegations of foreign ministers, state and general secretaries, and European commissioners in Sarajevo.
“When it comes to visits outside BiH, I held 86 official meetings outside Bosnia and Herzegovina with presidents, ministers, senators, congressmen, European commissioners, parliamentarians and secretaries general and other senior officials of states and multilateral organizations in more than 25 different countries. the world, all with significant restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic, “Turkovic said.
According to her, visits to the State Department, the US Congress, the US National Security Council, the British Parliament and the European Parliament were made, as well as talks with more than 40 different officials, assistant secretaries, senators, congressmen and parliamentarians. Dozens of informal meetings were held for former and current world-class officials such as David Cameron, Nawaz Sharif, Madeleine Albright, Antonio Faucci, Raffi Gregorian, David Petraus …
The Minister participated in 18 different gatherings, summits, conferences such as the OSCE Ministerial Council in Stockholm, where 57 heads of delegations addressed, along with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Ministers Lavrov and Truss – OIC summits, Mediterranean Union … 53 meetings were held with ambassadors and other officials based in Sarajevo, conducted interviews, among others, for the BBC, Euronews, Newsweek, Al Jazera English, Haaretz, Free Europe, Anatolia, Al Jazeera Net …
The first part of the year, as she points out, was largely dedicated to intensive activities on the procurement of coronavirus vaccines.
“After the visit to Berlin and Brussels and the pressure on European officials, information was published about the first significant supply of vaccines for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Regular deliveries and procurement of vaccines, which we now have in sufficient quantities, NATO, which unblocked the adoption of the ANP and progress towards NATO “, adds Turkovic.
She stated that in the middle of the year, an initiative was launched to temporarily open the tourist market in BiH for tourists from Saudi Arabia, “which was blocked by HDZ at the Council of Ministers, which caused huge economic damage to BiH, especially the tourism sector.”
“The Crisis Staff has been established and BiH citizens who found themselves in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of international forces have been successfully evacuated. Strong diplomatic reactions have been launched, the ambassador’s withdrawal and BiH citizens warned not to travel to Serbia after the arrest of BiH citizen Edin Vranj. Vranj was finally released. The fight for the BiH citizens against whom the proceedings are being conducted, Osmanović and Mujanović, continues, “Turković said.
As she points out, during the past year, after very intensive negotiations, the Qatari market was opened for dedicated production in BiH.
“The year ended with a strong diplomatic offensive in the fourth quarter in the EU, USA, UK and Russia, aimed at raising awareness of the dangers of RS separatist and anti-Dayton activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We expect to continue in this direction in 2022. Evidently Dissatisfaction was expressed with the results of the work of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which for most of the year operated with constant political blockades, which we are still witnessing. materials, laws, decisions, reports, information, etc. 499 materials are pending, which indicates that the Council of Ministers of BiH has not yet functioned in full capacity,” Turkovic stated.
