25 September 2010

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mr. Sven Alkalaj has led the BiH delegation at the Annual Ministerial Meeting of the Organization of Islamic Countries' member countries

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mr. Sven Alkalaj has led the BiH delegation, which participated on September 24, 2010 in New York at the Annual Ministerial Meeting of the Organization of Islamic Countries’ member countries.

In his address, Minister Alkalaj expressed his gratitude to OIC member countries for the continuous assistance and support to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and for keeping our country at the center of attention of the Organization. He expressed satisfaction with the re-activation of the Contact Group of the OIC for BiH, and the fact that so far it held three meetings, two in Turkey during the last year, and the third one on previous day in New York. He expressed his greatest gratitude for the strong support of the OIC member countries for preserving BiH’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as for preservation of its multiethnic, multicultural and multiregional structure, and he said that the stability of BiH is crucial not only for BiH and its people, but also for the stability and security across the region

Speaking of foreign policy priorities, Minister Alkalaj said that since BiH is Europan country, its full membership in the European Union and NATO does not have an alternative. He expressed his belief that, taking into account the recent past, security under the auspices of NATO and the economic and political security of EU assistance to BiH, will help to BiH to survive as a multiethnic, multicultural and multi-religious democracy. On the other hand, he stressed that BiH, at the same time, also wants to nurture its relations with OIC member states, and that our country is committed observer at the OIC, and BiH’s senior officials were present and will be present at all conferences, summits and meetings of the Organization.

Minister Alkalaj stressed that BiH, as the non-permanent member of UN Security Council, over the past nine months has been actively engaged in numerous peace and security issues, some of which are relevant to members of the OIC.  In this context, BiH will remain committed to constructive engagement on issues of peace and security in Africa, the Middle East and other regions in the world which are of great importance to the OIC.

At the end of his speech, Minister Alkalaj said that BiH attaches great importance to fostering relations with the OIC and its member states, adding that our country had benefited greatly from the OIC in view of its enormous diplomatic, political and economic influence as the largest international organization after the UN and he stressed that BiH would remain committed to focusing on the further development of relations and strengthening cooperation, whether at national or international level with the OIC.