Dr Lagumdzija took part in the Meeting of the Western Balkans Foreign Ministers: Repair of the consequences of floods to be used for strengthening regional cooperation



Today, on 10 July 2014, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Dr. Zlatko Lagumdžija participated in the Meeting of the Western Balkans Foreign Ministers that was held in Kotor (Montenegro) on strengthening cooperation within the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP). The EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule and Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council Goran Svilanovic attended the Meeting hosted by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Montenegro Igor Luksic.

At the meeting, the Western Balkans Foreign Ministers adopted the document on improvement of regional cooperation within defined new approach of the European Commission to the Western Balkan countries with emphasis on joint economic projects. 

During his address, Dr. Lagumdzija pointed out that further strong engagement of the European Union and regional cooperation are of great importance for B&H, especially now when we are focused on preparations for the donor conference to be held in Brussels on 16 July 2014. 

Speaking about the importance of the donor conference, Dr. Lagumdzija informed the Western Balkans Foreign Ministers of data on damage caused due to floods, as well as of needs of our country in the process of recovery and reconstruction.

He emphasized that flood damage is estimated at around 4 billion KM or more than 15% GDP of our country, while estimation of needs for recovery and reconstruction is around 3.3 billion KM.

Dr. Lagumdžija said that B&H expects assistance from donors in the process of recovery and reconstruction, but he also noted that local authorities without waiting for international assistance have already undertaken necessary measures and activities to help vulnerable population.

With regard to the EU new approach to the Western Balkan countries, Dr. Lagumdžija said that certain significant initiatives have been launched such as Forum on prosperity and employment, International conference on employment growth and Structural dialogue on judicial.      

“Natural disaster that affected B&H, Serbia and Croatia could be additional impulse for strengthening regional cooperation, specifically in the section of economic, infrastructural and joint projects both for repair of the consequences of floods and prevention of natural disasters such as floods, droughts and forest fires. At the meeting in Thessaloniki of May this year, it was announced that in the next five-year period the European Commission is ready to invest one billion euro by itself in regional projects, and 10 billion euro provided in cooperation with other international financial institutions is an incentive for us to work more on regional projects. I believe that we can, in the shortest time, define concrete regional projects and first of all projects in the sphere of communications and energy. The meeting of the Western Balkan countries leaders which will be held in Berlin at the end of August and chaired by Chancellor Angela Merkel is a great chance for the region in general and for each country individually“, highlighted Dr. Lagumdzija.

It was agreed that Dr. Lagumdzija should be a host of the meeting of the Western Balkans Foreign Ministers and the EU Enlargement Commissioner during the UN General Assembly Session in order to discuss regional projects and their implementation.    

Special topics of today's meeting in Kotor were the South East Europe Strategy 2020 which aims at creating a million of new jobs in the region, as well as strengthening economic governance through implementation of crucial economic and social reforms in the Western Balkan countries.