The President of the Republic of Srpska Milorad Dodik met today in Banja Luka with the Minister of the Federal State of Hessen for European and Federal Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany, Manfred Pentz.
The President of the Republic of Srpska emphasized that Srpska is committed to further progress towards European integration, which is expected to accelerate in the coming months.
“We want to seize this moment related to European integration and negotiating status, and I believe that in the coming months we will have an opportunity to move faster than before within the negotiating framework that the EU will offer”, said the President of Srpska.
The President Dodik also highlighted his contentment that the Minister Pentz was in Banja Luka and the Republic of Srpska, and that they had the opportunity to discuss relations and exchange views on the overall situation in BiH and the EU.
“We believe it is very important to receive an implementable framework from the Brussels administration, rather than wish lists that are difficult to implement. As we know, some issues in BiH cannot be resolved for decades, and we should not have ambitions to achieve this in a short time”, emphasized the President of the Republic.
The President Dodik expressed pleasure that there is understanding for the European path and the belief that after the European elections and the reappointment of Ursula von der Leyen as the President of the European Commission, this process will certainly be accelerated.
“We also discussed relations between Germany and the Republic of Srpska and the entire region. It is important that there is stability and peace here, and the obligation of us as elected politicians in this area is to cooperate with the economic structure of Germany itself, especially with the province from which the Minister Pentz comes”, stated the President Dodik.
“I particularly liked the Minister’s assertion that we should listen to eachother and form common positions. So far, people from the West have only come here imposing solutions and demanding something without any real understanding of the circumstances, so this is a refreshing conversation for me”, said the President of the Republic.
