The Chairman of the BiH Presidency, Dragan Covic, has said that a trilateral meeting between the members of the BiH Presidency and the Presidents of Serbia and Croatia, Aleksandar Vucic and Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, respectively, was an opportunity to raise issues that can help stabilize economic, social and democratic approach to problems in these three countries.
He has said that the essence of meeting was the EU Enlargement Strategy, and added that they sought for common points in that strategy which could improve the relations between the three countries.
“I am convinced that the atmosphere that we built today is creating conditions to build an atmosphere in which the executive authorities of all the three countries will be more capable of resolving all open issues which could not have been resolved for a long time, and they pertain to the future related to infrastructure,” Covic said at a press conference.
According to him, these are suppositions for building a regional economic atmosphere which can be much better than the one that exists at the moment.
The Republika Srpska member of the BiH Presidency, Mladen Ivanic, has said that good relations between BiH, Serbia and Croatia enable good internal relations in BiH, and added that meeting was a good thing by itself.
“We have many things in common, such as infrastructure, good economic relations. BiH’s trade with both Serbia and Croatia is on the rise, of which BiH citizens benefit greatly,” Ivanic has said.
He has said that those who are not in the EU should build a common market since this is beneficial to all, stressing that some practical and concrete problems should be resolved.
“I hope that we will soon have an opportunity to see a positive development of relations when it comes to a bridge on River Sava, and that the issue of the bridge in Bratunac will finally be resolved and that BiH institutions will do their part of the job,” Ivanic has said.
The Bosniak member of the BiH Presidency, Bakir Izetbegovic, has said that the new EU Strategy is an opportunity to start resolving an issue which is a characteristic of the countries of the Western Balkans, the emigration of young people.
“Six important initiatives within the EU include reconciliation, halt to inflammatory rhetoric, reforms, building infrastructure, mutual cooperation in security,” Izetbegovic has said, adding that this Strategy contains all problems facing BiH, but also problems between the three countries.
When it comes to unresolved bilateral issues, Izetbegovic has said that these issues should be dealt with more intensely, namely, a path should be prepared so that they could be resolved as soon as possible.
According to him, the problem with Croatia pertains to the Peljesac Bridge, while there was word with Serbia about infrastructure, that is, about roads which should connect Sarajevo and Belgrade across Tuzla and Visegrad.
Source: srna
