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SARAJEVO, September 3 (FENA) - The BiH Foreign Minister Igor Crnadak participated in the 14th Bled Strategic Forum 2019, which took place yesterday and today in Bled, Slovenia, under the title "Sources of (in)stability".
The minister spoke today at a panel on the Western Balkans on the topic of "Europeisation, democratization, shared responsibility" and during the Forum he held a series of bilateral meetings.
Addressing a panel dedicated to the Western Balkans, Minister Crnadak stressed that it is crucial for the region to insist on the implementation of European standards and criteria and the implementation of reforms as quickly as possible in order to prepare the region for EU membership as soon as possible.
He stressed that, in parallel, in the Member States it is necessary to create an atmosphere that the Western Balkans should be integrated into the EU much earlier than mentioned in official documents.
Speaking about the situation in BiH, Minister Crnadak emphasized that the most important topic was the formation of the Council of Ministers of BiH and the Government of the FBiH.
He informed the Forum participants that the SNSD, SDA, and HDZ have assumed responsibility for forming the government and that after 10 months of negotiations, an agreement has been reached and that he and the general public have hoped that the agreement would be implemented within the stipulated deadline, which expires the day after tomorrow, September 5.
The minister said that BiH's top foreign policy priority is to become an EU member state and that this should be the main strategic commitment of the new authorities, no matter when they are formed.
On the sidelines of the Bled Forum, Minister Crnadak also held a bilateral meeting with Matthew Palmer, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia and US Special Representative for the Western Balkans.
In the talks, Palmer reaffirmed the strong support of the US for BiH in implementing reforms and continuing on the European path.
It was also emphasized that it was of great importance for the US that the public in BiH to fully understand that the ANP does not imply membership and that NATO membership is not being discussed at all at this time.
(FENA) S. R.
