BRATISLAVA, September 16, (SITA)- Slovak Foreign Minister Mikulas Dzurinda will pay a working visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina from this Sunday until Tuesday, September 20. The head of Slovak diplomacy plans to share the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration experience with the Balkan state. Bosnia and Herzegovina still has not formed a new government almost a year after the last parliamentary elections, which has been blocking the country’s efforts to fulfill urgent integration tasks and hampering the bilateral agenda as well.
The Slovak ministry informed that the aim of its head’s visit to the Balkan is to become familiarized with the situation in the country and assess its seriousness regarding the stability and security of the region. The ambition of the Slovak minsitry is to objectively judge to which extent the integration agenda can iron out the negative impacts of political conflicts. “Being the main character in the successful integration story of the Slovak Republic minister Dzurinda can make it clear for his partners what political burden they have to jointly carry on their path to the EU and NATO,“ wrote the ministerial press department, which sees a certain parallel between Slovakia which successfully caught up with other countries of the region and the current position of Bosnia and Herzegovina within the Western Balkans.
The minister will speak with most senior representatives of the country also on economic relations between Slovakia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Dzurinda is scheduled to meet with the commander of the EUFOR/ALTHEA operation Bernhard Bair and members of the Slovak contingent engaged in the operation. Given that Slovakia has taken over command over the Regional Coordination Center South as of February 28 Dzurinda and Bair will focus on the activity of the Slovak contingent.
SITA