prijava
VIENNA, October 10 (FENA) - Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Željko Komšić met today with Austrian President Alexander van der Bellen in Vienna.
Chairman Komšić was greeted in Vienna with military honors.
During a long and open conversation, the interlocutors exchanged views on political and social processes in Europe and the region.
The two officials assessed bilateral cooperation between the Republic of Austria and Bosnia and Herzegovina as excellent and expressed satisfaction with the overall relations between the two countries.
They also noted the fact that the Republic of Austria is the largest investor in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that there are about 200 thousand Bosnians living and working in the Republic of Austria.
Van der Bellen and Komšić pointed out that Bosnia and Herzegovina recorded a surplus in economic relations with the Republic of Austria.
On the other hand, they expressed expectations about further investments in BiH, especially in the wood industry.
Both sides emphasized the extraordinary friendly, cultural, historical and educational ties between the two countries.
President of the Republic of Austria thanked the BiH Presidency Chairman Željko Komšić for the support Bosnia and Herzegovina has provided for his initiative in the field of climate change.
President Alexander van der Bellen said that Austria supports the entry of the entire region of Southeast Europe into the European Union, and was interested in relations in the region and the dynamics of the process of formation of a new government in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Komšić informed the President of the Republic of Austria about the political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and warned that the reasons for not forming the government are of a deeper political nature, emphasizing that some politicians in BiH do not respect the laws and decisions of the institutions of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina regarding the EU and NATO integrations, even though they were adopted and signed precisely by those same politicians.
Komšić stressed that Austria's military neutrality, which is being misused in BiH's political discourse as an alleged argument against BiH's NATO integration, cannot be linked to the political intentions of opponents of NATO integration in BiH, because it is a completely different concept of neutrality.
Komšić added that NATO means security and stability for BiH, such that the Republic of Austria already possesses, the one which would eliminate the fear of conflict forever through the implementation of reforms.
Chairman Komšić said that he supports every word of the European Commission's Opinion, that is, recommendations and measures that need to be taken to bring Bosnia and Herzegovina closer to the EU by meeting European standards and rejecting anti-European concepts, since the EC Opinion excludes ethnic concepts.
President of the Republic of Austria, Alexander van der Bellen readily accepted the invitation of the BiH Presidency Chairman Željko Komšić for an official visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the BiH Presidency stated.
(FENA) S. R.
