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Sarajevo, December 2nd, 2009

Press Release

Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina for Multilateral Relations Ambassador Branimir Mandic Meets with Head of the Delegation of the European Union to BiH Ambassador Dimitris Kourkoulas

On December 1st, 2009 in Sarajevo, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina for Multilateral Relations Ambassador Branimir Mandic met with Head of the Delegation of the European Union to BiH Ambassador Dimitris Kourkoulas. On this occasion, Ambassador Kourkoulas presented a Note Verbale from the Council of the European Union and the Commission of the European Communities informing the relevant BiH authorities about some of the changes that will come into effect with the Lisbon Treaty as of December 1st, 2009.       

Ambassador Kourkoulas explained the content of the Note Verbale and stated that the Lisbon Treaty, which amends the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty Establishing the European Community, will enter into force on December 1st, 2009. From that day on, the European Union will replace and succeed the European Community. The EU will exercise all the rights and take on all the commitments of the EC, while continuing to exercise existing EU rights and obligations. The EU will take over all agreements between BiH and the EC/EU as well as all commitments to BiH and all of BiH's commitments to the EC/EU. In addition, beginning on December 1st, 2009, the Delegation of the European Commission to BiH will change its name to „Delegation of the European Union“. Pursuant to the Lisbon Treaty, local EU representation at the Delegation level will be under the authority of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.       

During the remainder of their conversation, Assistant Minister Mandic stated that BiH has high expectations for the upcoming Meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers, where BiH’s application for NATO’s Membership Action Plan (MAP) will be considered, and stressed that BiH has fulfilled all of NATO's conditions in terms of defense reform. He said that he hopes BiH will have EU support and that it and Montenegro will receive a favorable reply.

Ambassador Kourkoulas also touched on visa liberalization and constitutional reform, emphasizing that the visa liberalization process is going well. In terms of constitutional reform, he stated that it is very important to carry it out until April of next year at the latest.

Finally, Ambassador Kourkoulas also inquired about preparation for BiH's non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council. Assistant Minister Mandic informed him in detail on this matter.