Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia hold summit on EU strategy

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Croatia on Tuesday held a summit on EU's strategy and economic cooperations.

The first such joint summit in six years was held in Mostar in Bosnia and hosted by the Croat member of Bosnia's three-member body Presidency Dragan Covic.

In a joint news conference after the meeting, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic said that the meeting aimed to assess the EU's Western Balkan strategy.

The EU published a new strategy for the region early February, which mentioned the fact that Serbia and Montenegro could “potentially” be ready to join the bloc by 2025.

Kitarovic pointed out that her country supports the Western Balkan countries' path to EU membership.

Croatia became the European Union's 28th member state in 2013.

Kitarovic also urged her Balkan partners to focus on business cooperation, particularly in the areas of transportation and energy, referring to the inclusion of natural gas pipeline projects.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said the three countries should make significant contributions in terms of economic relations.

"As politicians, our mission is to make our citizens feel safe and to give them an economic sense of refinement.

"We should gain momentum in response to the demand from the EU, I think we should equip the taxes on a regional basis and create a common market," said Vucic.

The Bosniak member of the Presidency, Bakir Izetbegovic, pointed out that the EU had addressed the important points that Bosnia and Serbia had been waiting for.

Mladen Ivanic, the Serbian member of the Presidency, stressed the good trade relations the three countries enjoyed.