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SARAJEVO, October 6 (FENA) - Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Sweden Ann Linde and Swedish Minister of the Interior Mikael Damberg, who are visiting Bosnia and Herzegovina, met this afternoon with members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Milorad Dodik and Željko Komšić.
The officials discussed bilateral relations between the two countries, as well as the fact that Sweden will soon take over the chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), with a focus on the organization's priorities.
As the member of the BiH Presidency Milorad Dodik pointed out after the meeting, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sweden have achieved a high level of cooperation, and it is a country that has strongly supported the reconstruction and development of Bosnia and Herzegovina in various fields from ecology and helping the process of return to the rule of law and protection of human rights…
“This year, the Medium-Term Support Plan for the Balkans is coming to an end, within which the Swedish Government provided Bosnia and Herzegovina with more than 100 million euros in donor funds,” Dodik said at a press conference, stating that a new package of support for the Western Balkans will follow, through which Sweden will continue to be present and provide support to BiH and the region.
He said that relations with Sweden remain good, therefore they asked the ministers to help in the further affirmation of BiH's European path. Dodik also stated that he informed the high guests that BiH does not have a unified agreement on NATO membership.
At the same time, he is of the opinion that it is important to achieve cooperation with NATO, and in that context, he welcomed the fact that NATO provided assistance packages to Bosnia and Herzegovina on the occasion of the coronavirus pandemic.
Regarding foreign policy aspects and in correlation with European policies concerning the region, Dodik said that the Swedish delegation had also discussed this, adding that Republika Srpska did not want and would not agree to recognize Kosovo as an independent state.
Referring to the latest developments on the European path of BiH and the region, Dodik welcomed the announcement in Brussels a few days ago that the Western Balkans would be supported by a nine billion-euro aid package, a significant part of which would be grants.
He announced that the Presidency of BiH is traveling to Brussels again on Friday to meet with European officials with whom it was not possible to talk during their recent stay at the EU headquarters due to the isolation they were in.
The main focus of this visit is on reforms and joint efforts to strengthen the rule of law and security in Europe, which is, among other things, achieved through the fight against organized crime.
(FENA) A. B.
