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HELSINKI, August 30 (FENA) - Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Igor Crnadak participated in an informal meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Helsinki today, and the main topics discussed during the debate on BiH were government formation and continuation of BiH's European path.
BiH Foreign Minister briefed participants at the meeting that three political parties, the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the Party of Democratic Action whose leaders reached an agreement on forming the government by September 5, participate in state-level government talks.
Expressing his hope that the agreement would be implemented within the time limits, he thanked for the support of the European Union for swift government formation, and for the announced continuation of joint activities in order for BiH to get candidate country status for EU membership as soon as possible.
The Minister also stated that in order to facilitate fair elections, it is necessary to implement the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) recommendations on threats and blackmail of voters, as well as on the misuse of public service broadcasting, as soon as possible.
Crnadak said that these recommendations have been ignored so far and they need to be put at the forefront for future relation between BiH and the EU.
The Minister reaffirmed BiH's commitment to the best possible relations in the region during his speech to the EU Foreign Affairs Council. He also urged Prishtina to abolish undemocratic and anti-European taxes of 100 percent on goods from Serbia and BiH as soon as possible.
On the sidelines of the Helsinki meeting, Crnadak held a series of bilateral meetings, and during the meeting with the Slovak Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairman Miroslav Lajčak, he agreed a joint opening of the BiH Honorary Consulate in Slovakia in Senec near Bratislava on September 5.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland Pekka Haavisto and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini welcomed the ministers in Helsinki from 29 to 30 August 2019, under the Finnish EU presidency, announced the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH.
(FENA) A. B.
