First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic met today in Belgrade with the Foreign Ministers of the Republic of Turkey and of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mevlut Cavusoglu and Igor Crnadak respectively.
After the trilateral meeting, the Foreign Ministers of Serbia, Turkey and Bosnia-Herzegovina agreed that the political ties among the three countries were at an excellent level, as well as that there was room for the promotion of economic cooperation.
Minister Dacic estimated that the three countries remained committed to cooperation within their common foreign policy priorities, such as full membership of the EU, despite the challenges they faced in this process.
“Our three countries aspire to EU membership and Serbia in this context supports the European integration processes of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Turkey”, said the Head of Serbian diplomacy.
He underlined that Bosnia-Herzegovina and Turkey were important economic partners of Serbia, noting that trade in goods with Bosnia-Herzegovina in the initial nine months of this year amounted to EUR 1 billion 289 million, a 15% increase compared to the previous year, while the trade in goods with Turkey amounted to EUR 710 million, thus recording a 12% increase.
Minister Dacic pointed to the importance of establishing a joint trade representative office of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in Istanbul, adding that this was a good way to strengthen the economic ties among the three countries.
Furthermore, he underscored that the Belgrade authorities had an interest for promoting cooperation in energy and tourism sectors as well as that Turkey was interested in taking part in the construction of Belgrade-Sarajevo motorway.
The Serbian Foreign Minister emphasized that Serbia had an interest to follow potential problems between the EU and Turkey concerning the migrant issue, noting that strained relations between them could do harm to Serbia.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Igor Crnadak estimated that the relations among the three countries were excellent and that attention should be focused on the strengthening of trading relations.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Mevlut Cavusoglu stressed that the talks he had in Belgrade with his counterparts from Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina were open, focusing on the economic cooperation.
Minister Cavusoglu said that Turkey supported investors willing to invest in the region and that it would back and take part in the construction of the Belgrade-Sarajevo motorway.
The Foreign Ministers of Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Turkey announced that the next trilateral meeting would be held in the first half of next year, in Turkey.