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TIRANA, October 6 (FENA) - Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Šefik Džaferović concluded his official visit to the Republic of Albania today, where he met with a number of senior officials from the country to discuss bilateral relations and ways to improve cooperation at a higher level, especially since BiH and Albania have no open issues.
In an interview with FENA in Tirana, he summed up the results of the visit, assessing that after these meetings, cooperation between the two countries would surely gain more momentum in the political, economic and cultural aspects.
That was the goal of the visit, says Džaferović, because the existing cooperation does not meet the potential and he expressed the opinion that this goal has now been achieved since Albanian officials have offered assurances that they will actively work on these goals.
"There are numerous opportunities in these areas that are insufficiently explored for both countries," he added.
The two countries' officials discussed cooperation in the region and stressed that there is complete agreement that this cooperation should be based on the principles of mutual respect.
"There can be no greater or lesser respect, we are equal and in that way, we should develop regional relations with respect to our foreign policy goals," emphasized Džaferović.
He reminded that Albania is a member of NATO, and its second foreign policy goal is membership in the European Union, while BiH is on the path to acquiring a candidate status for membership in the European Union, which is one of the basic foreign policy goals of BiH.
"Membership in the NATO is also our foreign policy goal, and cooperation in those areas has been agreed," Džaferović underlined.
He noted that these would be the main results of the visit with, as he says, something that made this visit even more beautiful, and that is yesterday's visit to the Bosniak community in the Municipality of Shijak in Durres where he met with Bosniaks whose ancestors settled in the area due to historical circumstances at the time.
"They found a new homeland there. They are respectable people, citizens of the Republic of Albania and they are people who keep the memories alive of the homeland and of their ancestors, of our beautiful Bosnia and Herzegovina, they have preserved their identity and speak the Bosnian language. That made this visit wholesome and even successful," he said.
Since the opening of embassies in both, Tirana and Sarajevo was discussed at meetings with Albanian officials, Džaferović says that the task of the embassies is to work on everything that was discussed during the meetings when it comes to improving bilateral cooperation.
"Their task is to strengthen relations between the countries at each of these levels, both bilaterally, regionally and at the EU level, as well as in the fields of economic, political and cultural cooperation," noted Džaferović.
He pointed out that when you want to strengthen relations between the countries, it is necessary to open diplomatic and consular missions and reminded that the Presidency of BiH made the decision to open the Embassy of BiH in Tirana, while President Ilir Meta announced that Albania will open its embassy in Sarajevo.
"This will be of immense importance. I would say that this is a condition without which it would be difficult to talk about any substantial cooperation. When there are diplomatic and consular missions, then you have institutions that work on all this and encourage the fulfillment of what has been agreed," concluded the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Šefik Džaferović, in an interview with FENA.
During his two-day visit to Albania, Džaferović met with Albanian President Ilir Meta, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, Albanian Parliament Speaker Gramoz Ruçi, and Mayor of Tirana Erion Veliaj.
(FENA) S. R.
