Terrenoire again president, Franjo Topić member of the Presidency of the International Pan-European Union

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Honorary President of the Pan-European Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina Franjo Topić has been re-elected to the Presidency of the International Pan-European Union, while the current president Alain Terrenoire confirmed his new five-year term at the head of this organisation.

This was decided by 150 representatives from 22 European countries at the General Assembly that met this weekend in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Also elected to the Presidency were: academician Mislav Ježić and Prof. Dr. Pavo Barišić from Croatia, Bernd Posselt, Johannes Kijas, Dr. Dirk Herman Voß from Germany, Dr. Andrej Lepavcov from Macedonia, Dr. Gordana Đurović from Montenegro, Walburga Habsburg Douglas from Sweden, Anna Zaborska from Slovakia, Rainhard Kloucek from Austria, Dr. Anna Grünwald from Hungary, Carlos Uriarte Sanchez from Spain and Jean Paul Picaper from France.

At the constituent session of the Presidency, Anna Zaborska was elected Executive Vice-President, Mislav Ježić, Walburga Habsburg Douglas and Dirk Herman Voß were elected Vice-Presidents, Pavo Barišić was elected Secretary General, and Johannes Kijas was elected Treasurer of the Pan-European Union.

The Presidency elected former President of the Pan-European Union of BiH Vanja Gavran as Deputy Secretary General.

President Terrenoire in his speech referred to his predecessors, the great visionaries of their time, founder of the Pan-European Union Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi and long-time President Archduke Otto von Habsburg, but also placed emphasis on the countries of Southeast Europe.

"We must integrate Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Serbia into the European Union as soon as possible. This should be done by considering their specific positions, but not according to criteria that existed 25 years ago," Terrenoire emphasised.

President of the Pan-European Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina Osman Topčagić, who led the delegation from BiH, which in addition to Topić and Gavran also included General Secretary Haris Ćutahija, presented a report on the work of Pan-Europe BiH, which is one of the most active organisations in the Pan-European family.

"The European enlargement policy towards the Western Balkans began 20 years ago and we should look at what the results of that are. Only one country, Croatia, has been admitted to the European Union. So not much has been done regarding admission. The EU must open negotiations with Macedonia and Albania, both for the sake of those countries and its own credibility. The perspective of full membership for the other countries must be guaranteed, and the countries of the Western Balkans should be included in discussions about the future of the whole of Europe. I hope that Bosnia and Herzegovina will obtain candidate status without unnecessary delays," Topčagić said, among other things, in his address.

At the Assembly, special guests also spoke: Vice-President of the European Parliament Rainer Wieland and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia Gordan Grlić Radman.

Minister Grlić Radman spoke at the gathering about the priorities of Croatia's presidency of the Council of the European Union. He also referred to the countries of Southeast Europe striving for EU membership.

"Croatia understands the countries of that part of Europe and I believe that the Zagreb Summit in May will be an opportunity to define policy for Southeast Europe in the next decade. We strongly support the opening of negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania and I hope they will begin even before the summit in Zagreb," Radman said.