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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina to improve cooperation

Sarajevo, 28 May 2007

Foreign ministers of Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina Vuk Jeremic and Sven Alkalaj reached an agreement today in Sarajevo that the two countries should improve their cooperation.

Vuk Jeremic, left, and Sven Alkalaj

Author: Fonet

Speaking at a press conference held after the meeting with Alkalaj, Jeremic said that one of the priorities in his work will be the improvement of good neighbourly relations and that is why Bosnia-Herzegovina has been chosen as the first state to visit since he took office.

He said that Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia should turn a new page in their relations, to join forces and work on the only road that will bring a better future to the citizens, and that is European and Euro-Atlantic integrations.

Speaking about Kosovo-Metohija, the Serbian foreign minister said that any form of independence of Kosovo is unacceptable for Serbia and that the Serbian government wants a new process of negotiations.

Serbia is against any imposed solution for Kosovo-Metohija because such a solution would perhaps solve things in a short term, but that would create instability and return the region to 1990s, Jeremic underlined.

He said that it is necessary to find a compromise and sustainable solution for Kosovo-Metohija, and that Bosnia-Herzegovina's balanced approach is acceptable for Serbia, according to which a good solution would be the one agreed between Belgrade and Pristina.

Jeremic said that Serbia advocates preservation of territorial integrity and sovereignty of internationally recognised states, both of Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and added that cooperation with the Hague tribunal is one of the main goals of the new Serbian government, which believes that this difficult page of history should be addressed as soon as possible.

Jeremic and Alkalaj talked about the improvement of bilateral relations, participation in joint regional initiatives and improvement of economic cooperation, as well as joint participation in third markets.

They agreed that in the next period that the relevant expert staff should complete all technical consultations concerning the border between Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina and regulate the issue of double citizenship and remove all doubts in that field.

On behalf of Serbian President Boris Tadic, Jeremic invited members of the Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina to come to Belgrade in autumn to attend the session of the Inter-state council for building relations between Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Alkalaj welcomed Jeremic's visit to Sarajevo, describing it as a very strong message to the region, Brussels and Washington that the two states can cooperate in a friendly manner.

Jeremic is on a working visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina, and in addition to Sarajevo, he will also visit Banjaluka, where he will open renovated premises of the Serbian consulate-general together with Prime Minister of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik.

Jeremic also visited Banjaluka today and together with Republika Srpska Prime Minister Milorad Dodik put into use the renovated premises of the Serbian consular office.

Jeremic said that the Serbian government is devoted to strengthening the Agreement on Special and Parallel Relations between Serbia and Republika Srpska and the opening of these renovated premises of the Serbian consular office is the first step in that direction.

He announced that by week’s end the mixed committee for the implementation of the Agreement on Special and Parallel Relations, comprising the Serbian and Republika Srpska presidents and prime ministers, will meet in Belgrade.