PRESS CONFERENCE

Sarajevo, May 21st, 2009.

Press Release

Press Conference Held by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Sven Alkalaj and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Spain Miguel Angel Moratinos

After a previous meeting, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Sven Alkalaj and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Spain Miguel Angel Moratinos held a press conference on May 21st, 2009 in the MFA of BiH.

In his statement to the press, Minister Alkalaj expressed great satisfaction at Minister Moratinos’ visit to our country and stated that he had used this visit as an opportunity to inform Minister Moratinos about the current political situation in BiH, its foreign policy priorities, the visit by US Vice President Joseph Biden and Council of the European Union Secretary General Javier Solana as well as the obligations taken on by our country in order to fulfill visa liberalization requirements.

Minister Alkalaj stressed that it is very important that Minister Moratinos is informed of the current situation in our country because the Kingdom of Spain will take over the European Union Presidency as of January 1st, 2010. He added that this is a great advantage to BiH’s entry into the European structures. He stated that Minister Moratinos emphasized that Spain will give its full support to BiH so it may secure a seat at the UN Security Council and NATO as well as gain EU candidate status during his country’s EU Presidency.

Minister Moratinos expressed his satisfaction at being in Sarajevo and BiH once more. He assessed that relations between BiH and Spain are good but that there is room for intensifying economic relations. He voiced the hope that relations between the countries would deepen during Spain’s EU Presidency. He emphasized the importance of the visit by Secretary General Solana and US Vice President Biden for our country and the importance of fulfilling Roadmap conditions on visa liberalization.