6 minutes agoFajon: Visa liberalisation for Kosovo is high on priority list
Periskopi(3 years ago)
(3 years ago)Republic of Slovenia Foreign Affairs Minister Tanja Fajon said integration of Western Balkan countries tops the European Union's list of priorities (BE) and that it is a key response to the rise in Russian influence in this region. On January 13th, in Sarajevo, Fajon discussed with Minister of Jobs [...]
On 13 January, in Sarajevo, Fajon discussed with Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Foreign Affairs Minister Bisera Turkovic, relations between the two countries, the Russian influence in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the necessary reforms facing this country's institutions on the European road.
She congratulated Bosnia and Herzegovina citizens on candidate status for EU membership and promised professional assistance in implementing the necessary reforms Bosnia and Herzegovina will face on its path to the EU.
“Slovenia extended its hand to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in the first place, it is up to you to how hard you would hold that hand extended by Slovenia and the EU”, Fajon said.
She added that Bosnia and Herzegovina institutions will have to do their part of the task and meet the 14 priorities set by the European Commission, and that this will determine the speed of membership in the European Union.
Fajon stressed that relations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia are good and there are no major open issues between the two countries. As she said, about 100 Slovenian companies operate in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which employ about 15 thousand citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The exchange of goods is marking growth and is currently around half a billion euros”, Fajon said, adding that during the visit he will meet with businessmen and the academic community to discuss the possibilities for improving co-operation between the two countries.
“I have been notified of increasing Russian influence in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, Fajon said, adding that unity in Europe is crucial to responding to the Russian invasion in Ukraine.
“Negotiations with Northern Macedonia, the visa-free regime for Kosovo and enlargement in the Western Balkans are high on the list of priorities”, Fajon said, adding that Slovenia will provide technical and political assistance and that it is essential that Bosnia and Herzegovina, following the formation of the new government, continue on its path towards the EU.
Bosnia and Herzegovina Foreign Affairs Minister Bisera Turkovic said her country is facing continued efforts to strengthen Russian influence and destabilisation.
“are Russian media reports warning further turbulence in Kosovo, but also in BiH. We've had several attempts by Russian medical experts at COVID time. We had a convoy waiting for the call from Mostar. We had two planes that arrived and turned out to be not medical experts, but military”, Turkovic said.
She added that daily and destructive reports of Bosnia and Herzegovina's secession of the Republika Srpska entity and its union with Serbia, through the promotion of the Serbian “Bot”, are not at all harmless and come with Russian strong support.
She said that giving the decoration to Vladimir Putin in Republika Srpska “is a slap on the entire democratic world”.
