Bled Forum: Crnadak appealed for the lifting of the milk export ban

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Igor Crnadak participated in the Bled Strategic Forum 2015, held under the motto "Visions of New Partnerships" on August 31 and September 1 in Bled, organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia and the Center for European Perspective (CEP), reports the Patria News Agency.

The jubilee, tenth Bled Strategic Forum, gathered presidents, prime ministers, foreign ministers, and other high officials from a large number of countries, numerous representatives of international and non-governmental organizations, prominent figures from the world of politics and economy, representatives of academia and the media.

 

Minister Crnadak attended the official opening ceremony of the Bled Strategic Forum and participated in a panel discussion on the topic "Western Balkans: A Region at the Center of Geostrategic Considerations." Besides Minister Crnadak, the panelists included, among others, the foreign ministers of the Republic of Albania, the Republic of Turkey, the Republic of Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, and Hungary.

In his address, Minister Crnadak emphasized that good neighborly relations and regional cooperation are one of the priorities of BiH's foreign policy, and that our country is committed to the continuous improvement of mutual relations in the Western Balkans region.

Minister Crnadak informed the conference participants about the latest developments in BiH, following the entry into force of the Stabilization and Association Agreement, particularly emphasizing the adoption of the initial reform program and the accelerated work on adopting the coordination mechanism.

-The coordination mechanism is particularly significant because, in addition to the role of institutions at the BiH level, the role of Republika Srpska and the Federation of BiH must be precisely defined, as they will implement a large part of the reform measures through their institutions and bodies, said Minister Crnadak.

Minister Crnadak conveyed to the conference participants the dissatisfaction of businessmen and citizens of BiH in general, caused by the decision to block the export of milk from BiH to the European Union. On that occasion, Minister Crnadak emphasized that, in addition to material damage, this ban has also harmed pro-European forces and the European idea in BiH, as exports were halted despite the fact that all high European Union standards and very complicated procedures were met.

Minister Crnadak publicly appealed to all representatives of the European Union to lift the aforementioned ban and allow milk exports for all those who have invested a lot of money and effort and met the high EU standards.

On the sidelines of the conference in Bled, Minister Crnadak held separate bilateral meetings with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia and the Slovak Republic, Nikola Poposki and Miroslav Lajčák, respectively, it was announced from the MFA of BiH.