Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Dr. Zlatko Lagumdzija pays a one-day official visit to the Republic of Greece



Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs of B&H Dr. Zlatko Lagumdzija pays a one-day official visit to the Republic of Greece.

Minister Lagumdzija separately met with President of Greece Karolos Papoulias, Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos, President of the Parliament Evangelos-Vasileios Meimarakis who also invited Dr. Lagumdzija to attend the session of the Parliament, as well as Presidents of the Standing Committee on Defence and Foreign Affairs and the Friendship Group Greece-Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Foreign Ministers of B&H and Greece, Dr. Lagumdzija and Avramopoulos assessed bilateral relations between the two countries as good with no outstanding issues. They expressed their desire to further strengthen relations and in this regard, stressed the need for frequent exchange of visits of high delegations of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Greece. Dr Lagumdzija extended the invitation to Minister Avramopoulos for an official visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The interlocutors discussed the enhancement of economic cooperation, which is characterized by symbolic foreign trade and the possibility of cooperation in the field of tourism and transport, as well as the exchange of experiences in the field of regional development. They talked about the importance of continuing the policy of EU enlargement in the Western Balkans, and stressed the importance of future cooperation in the context of the forthcoming presidency of the Republic of Greece in the first half of 2014. Accordingly, it was concluded that BiH and Greece, on the occasion of commemorating the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I in June 2014, can send a joint message from Sarajevo to the world that the century of divisions and wars is now behind us, that the EU perspective of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region has no alternative and that the EU map will be complete upon integration of the Western Balkans into the EU.

During the visit, Dr. Lagumdzija and Minister Avramopoulos signed a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of B&H and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Greece in the Field of European Integration.

On the occasion of the official visit, Dr. Lagumdzija gave a lecture on "Bosnia and Herzegovina: From Dayton to Brussels via Thessalonica"at the European Public Law Organization (EPLO) in Athens.