The Czech Republic supports Bosnia and Herzegovina on its European path, it was concluded after the meeting of members of the Committee for Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH with members of the Committee for Foreign Affairs and members of the Committee for European Affairs of the Parliament of the Czech Republic.

After the meeting, the Chairperson of the Committee for Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament, Darijana Filipović, told journalists that they touched upon a number of important issues concerning BiH and the Czech Republic.

“The most important thing is the unquestionable support and determination of the Czech Republic for BiH to have its European future,” said Filipović.

She added that they also discussed economic relations, the exchange that BiH has with the Czech Republic, and cooperation on various projects.

“It seems to us at this moment that Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Czech Republic have no open issues, that they cooperate well in various areas and, most importantly, that the Czech Republic, both in its bilateral relations and in its lobbying efforts, will advocate for Bosnia and Herzegovina to open negotiations with the European Union, what is particularly important to us,” said Filipović.

Ondrej Benesik, a member of the Committee for Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the Committee for European Affairs of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, stated that they have been in Sarajevo for the third day and that they had a series of constructive meetings, during which they received a lot of information. They also visited international institutions in Sarajevo and institutions of the executive power.

– At all meetings, we confirmed our support for the European path and the European ambitions of Bosnia and Herzegovina. I can proudly point out that the Czech Republic helped, and during its presidency of the European Union, it finally managed to open the accession process for BiH,” said Benesik.

He also said that bilateral cooperation between the two countries takes place on several levels and that there is room for its further development.

“We will make an effort in the future to support your aspirations in our communication with other EU member states. Accession talks are a rather complicated political process, which the Czech Republic has been going through relatively recently. We have certain know-how that we acquired. We are ready not only to support you politically on the European path but also to pass on this knowledge to you. We are aware that your primary goal is membership and entry into the EU. This must be the result of that accession process if BiH fulfills its domestic tasks and the conditions set by the European Commission,” Benešik pointed out.

He noted that membership in the EU represents a great added value, as it contributes to the predictability of the economic environment, the rule of law, so that domestic businesses as well as foreign investors and tourists will benefit from it.

“In addition to the affairs of the European Union, we also discussed possible cooperation within other international institutions, such as the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

We also discussed opportunities for deepening economic cooperation, including investments. We also touched on the issue of development projects in which the Czech Republic participates either directly or indirectly through various EU agencies,” said Benešik.