Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bilateral relations between Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina are very good, there are no open issues. However, economic cooperation must be intensified, stated Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki after meeting his Bosnian counterpart Sven Alkalaj in Sarajevo on Monday.

Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina share common goals - European and Euro-Atlantic integration. At an informal EU meeting, which was held in Cordoba under the auspices of Spain's presidency, Macedonia - being a state in the Balkan region and as EU candidate country with visa liberalisation - had a strong position. In terms of EU integration and reforms being implemented by BiH, EU has the right to grant visa liberalisation to BiH as soon as possible, said Milososki.

Head of the European Union delegation to Bosnia-Herzegovina Dimitris Kourkoulas said that the country has a lot of work ahead of it.

He said that Bosnia has yet to fulfill all conditions needed for visa liberalization.

Kourkoulas said that with the adoption of the changes and additions made to the Criminal Law in the Bosnia-Herzegovina parliament is a “large step towards fulfilling all conditions, but at this moment it cannot be said that all the conditions are fulfilled.”

FM Davutoğlu and Croatian Minister for Foreign Affairs and European Integration Jandrokovic addressed the media in Zagreb on Saturday. Turkey and Croatia have agreed to intensify contacts to draw up and implement common policies regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is plagued by simmering tensions over governance and power-sharing issues.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu paid an official visit to Croatia on Saturday and had talks with the country’s president, prime minister and foreign minister focusing on the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina. If Bosnia and Herzegovina’s consent is also given, then Turkey, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina could hold trilateral discussions on the issue in a similar way to what Turkey, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina have been doing for a while, Davutoğlu said.