The foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, Hungary, and Austria all visited Sarajevo this week, and each expressed his support for the EU’s new approach to BiH, which will prioritize economic issues.
Speaking to press after his meeting with his British counterpart William Hague, BiH FM Zlatko Lagumdzija’s office described the EU’s position:
The [EU’s] new approach would run in two directions. One will focus of Bosnia meeting the political conditions to continue on the path to EU membership. The other will focus on the real-life problems citizens face every day….
[Austrian FM Sebastian] Kurz added that Austria, Hungary and Bosnia had close cultural, economic and historic ties. Bosnia formed part of Austria-Hungary from 1878 to the end of the First World War. He recalled that around 150,000 people from Bosnia live in Austria today.
“The development of Bosnia and Herzegovina is very important for us, shown by the fact that Austria is the largest investor in this country,” Kurz added.
