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Minister Fajon in Sarajevo on further steps on Bosnia and Herzegovina's European path

  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs
During her working visit to Sarajevo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Tanja Fajon met with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Dr Bisera Turković, Chairwoman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Željka Cvijanović, and Presidency members Željko Komšić and Dr Denis Bećirović. This was also the first political visit from Slovenia since BiH was granted candidate status.

The hosts outlined for Minister Fajon the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and its progress towards Euro-Atlantic integration. She commended the progress on formation of a government, hoping that the executive branch of power at all levels is formed as soon as possible to start working on the necessary reforms. "We encourage Bosnia and Herzegovina’s efforts to build mutual trust and internal dialogue and strengthen the rule of law. By granting the candidate status, we have extended our hand to Bosnia and Herzegovina; it is now up to its leaders to show, with concrete actions, how firmly they will shake it. Slovenia will continue to provide BiH with political support and concrete assistance at the expert level on its EU path," the Minister stressed.

Minister Fajon and Minister Turković confirmed the positive and traditionally friendly relations between Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, without any major outstanding issues. Minister Fajon underlined the excellent economic relations between the two countries. "I am pleased to see that trade between our two countries is growing and already exceeds EUR 1.5 billion. Slovenia is also one of the top five investors in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but there still remain many untapped opportunities to strengthen cooperation," she said. The two sides also agreed that the implementation of the Agreement on Succession Issues should be accelerated. Minister Fajon underlined that Bosnia and Herzegovina remains one of the countries in the focus of Slovenia's development cooperation and went on to outline the plans to strengthen the implementation of bilateral technical assistance on European affairs.

During her visit, Minister Fajon was also awarded the Gold Medal of the Bosniak Institute – Adil Zulfikarpašić Foundation for her role in the promotion of BiH and granting it EU candidate status. "I see the Bosniak Institute's Gold Medal as a recognition of my work in Bosnia and Herzegovina so far and as a motivation to carry on with my efforts primarily for the well-being of the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina," said Minister Fajon upon receiving the award.

She also gave a lecture at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Sarajevo and met with the Slovenian Business Club re-established last year, and with civil society representatives.