News

On 21 March in Sarajevo, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Vytautas Leškevičius took part in the political consultations with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zlatko Lagumdžija and representatives of autonomic administrative divisions to discuss the situation in the country, future relations with the EU, bilateral political and economic issues, and cooperation in frames of international organizations.

“Lithuania remains supporter of the EU development policy. We support aspirations of Bosnia and Herzegovina to integrate EU. However, to become a reality, it requires a unique political consensus on the implementation of the reforms necessary for the EU membership. Only in this case, Bosnia and Herzegovina will have real opportunities to present formal request for accession to the EU this year – during the Lithuania’s Presidency of the Council of the EU”, V.Leškevičius highlighted.

Vice-Minister also assured that Lithuania is ready to contribute to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s preparation for the EU membership and sharing of the expert knowledge.

While speaking about economic cooperation, V.Leškevičius stressed that there is still some space to develop their relations in this field. Lithuania and Bosnia and Herzegovina are developing their trade relations, and Lithuanian entrepreneurs are showing their interest in investing in this country.

“Successful further investment in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region will depend on the success of Lithuanian businessmen who have already invested in your country”, the Vice-Minister stressed.

In order to increase the attractiveness of the Bosnia and Herzegovina’s market for Lithuania, we decided to sign an agreement to avoid double taxation in the nearest future.

The parties discussed about the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, formation of the new Government of the Republic of Serbia and its priorities, as well as the changes in Federal Government structure. V.Leškevičius drew attention to the need to seek a political agreement on the implementation of the reforms. During the meeting, were also presented the priorities of the Lithuanian Presidency of the EU Council, discussed issues of the Western Balkans region and the NATO agenda.

During the visit, the Minister met with representatives of both autonomous administrative units of Bosnia and Herzegovina – Fehim Škaljić, Chairman of the House of Representatives, Igor Radojičić, the President of the National Assembly of the Serbian Republic, and Željka Cvijanović, the Prime Minister of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina.