The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of
Cyprus and Bosnia-Herzegovina
held a meeting in
Cyprus
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr
Ioannis Kasoulides, met today with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Mr Igor Crnadak, in the framework of a working visit of the
Bosnian Minister to Cyprus.
Ministers Kasoulides and Crnadak had a
tête-à-tête meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nicosia, followed by
official talks of the two delegations, headed by the two Ministers.
The relations between Cyprus and
Bosnia-Herzegovina, the internal situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the country’s
relations with the EU, the Cyprus problem, as well as regional issues of common
interest, were discussed.
Also, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs
signed a bilateral Agreement on Cooperation in the field of Tourism, while Mr
Kasoulides hosted a lunch in honour of Mr Crnadak.
Speaking to the Press, after the
signing of the Agreement, Minister Kasoulides, upon warmly welcoming his Bosnian
counterpart, referred to the already existing good level of bilateral relations,
expressing also the willingness of the two countries to explore new areas of
cooperation. “ The
Agreement on Cooperation in the field of Tourism that we have just signed here,
today, is a neat example of this. In addition,
the opening of the honorary Consulate of the Republic of Cyprus in
Sarajevo is a
solid proof of our commitment to provide further impetus to our bilateral
relations”, he said.
On the Cyprus problem, Minister
Kasoulides had the chance to brief his counterpart on developments in the
current negotiating process for finding a solution to the Cyprus problem. He
also expressed “our appreciation for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s supportive stance
on the Cyprus issue, and for its active
participation in UNFICYP, which is another tangible proof of the country’s active
international engagement and willingness to contribute to peace building and
stability in the region”.
As regards the European perspective of
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Minister Kasoulides reaffirmed Cyprus’ support towards this
direction, “which is mutually beneficial for both the country and the EU itself,
and the regional stability in general. Cyprus commends the leadership of Bosnia and Herzegovina
for its commitment and the substantial work done, in order to meet the
conditions as set out by the EU for the country’s European path”.
Regarding the threat of terrorism the
two Ministers agreed that no country is immune to the terrorist threat; and that we must work
harder and closer together to counter this phenomenon. Minister Kadoulides
pointed out that Bosnia-Herzegovina is facing particular challenges, especially
with regards to radicalisation and foreign terrorist fighters and “in this
respect we welcome the recently-adopted Integrative Plan of Action 2015-17, as
part of the EU Western Balkan Counter-Terrorism Initiative and we stand ready to
provide assistance within this framework”.
On his part, Minister Crnadak thanked
the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus for the warm welcoming and the
hospitality, noting that these high-level meetings contribute in opening a new
chapter in the relations of the two countries.
As regards the European integration
efforts of his country, Mr Crnadak thanked Cyprus for its support, adding that
Bosnia-Herzegovina has intensified its efforts to implement a new reform agenda,
which will be the key basis for the country’s European integration course. “As a
result of this, we have submitted the application for membership on 15 February,
very symbolic event for us, but also an event of great substance. We continue
with efforts, we do not want any lowering of our substance and we want to be
judged for our performance”, he stressed.
Regarding the bilateral relations,
Minister Crnadak said that discussion was made on the possibility of expanding
the parliamentarian cooperation.
Also, Mr Crnadak highlighted that
during his meetings, we had the chance to discuss about the possibility of
expanding the economic relations of the two countries. “We think that our
foreign trade exchange should be higher in the upcoming years”, he noted.
Minister Crnadak characterized the
Agreement signed today of “of high importance” for his country, and expressed
the hope that soon more people from both countries will be visiting the two
countries.
As regards the threat of terrorism, Mr
Crnadak stressed Bosnia-Herzegovina’s commitment to the fight of the phenomenon.
Cyprus and Bosnia-Herzegovina stand on the same position on this, since both
countries are members of the global coalition. “We have very strong efforts
inside the country for fighting all kind of radicalism and terrorism and,
especially, we are very much proud of how we handle the fight against foreign
terrorists, because we were the first country in the region in deducing the
legislation in the sanctions”, he underlined.
Finally, Minister Crnadak warmly
welcomed the establishment of an Honorary Consulate of Cyprus in
Bosnia-Herzegovina, expressing the hope that “we will be able to do this here in
Cyprus, because we believe that this kind of activity can help in further
developing and deepening our bilateral relations”.
Invited to say whether border closure
and restriction measures are the proper way of dealing with migration crisis,
and what Turkey could do to help the flow, Minister Kasoulides replied: “First
of all, we believe that the problem of migration will start getting its way to
be resolved through the implementation of the 14 blocks of agreement that have
be taken by the European Union. We have first to do, each and every country, our
deed, for instance the relocation of the refugees that are now in Greece and in
Italy, which is an obligation of the Republic of Cyprus. In this way, we share
the burden as good partners with solidarity.
With Turkey, it is very important that
at least those economic migrants that are not entitled to international
protection, they should go back to Turkey. It is obvious that more than 50% of
the present migrants do not come from Syria, where people understand that this
people should need international protection. They are economic migrants that now
found an easy route to fly to Turkey with cheap flights and then to pass to
Greece, hoping to go to Germany, etc. I think these are the two issues we need
to concentrate in. Europe will go through very difficult challenging times and
each and every country judges that whatever is against its interest, they should
consider that they should do nothing. This is wrong”.
On the same question, the Bosnian
Minister, on behalf of Bosnia-Herzegovina, said “we are hoping that we will
finally see the unique and united response by Europe to this issue. It is
obvious that it is not possible to find a solution without some non-EU countries
that are on the route, like Serbia that is one of our neighboring countries. We
hope to see this response at the end.
Bosnia-Herzegovina is following the
situation very carefully, because there is a possibility and it is also one of
the assessments made by our agencies, that the rest of Balkans should change its
course and maybe we could see a new route going through Albania, Montenegro and
then entering our country, trying to reach Croatia, which is an EU member
state.
So we have the operational team, which
is ready to intervene within 24 hours if we have influx of refugees in our
territory. This operational team is consisted of all the important institutions
and bodies that deal with these issues. This team, among others, could go ahead
with closing borders, even though we have not discussed it. We are prepared to
react if we would need to organize and facilitate a certain number of refugees
and migrants going through Bosnia-Herzegovina through transit. Unfortunately, we
are not in a position to even discuss the possibility of having them stay, but
so far we have not seen such a request expressed by anybody”.
