Diplomatic Diary: BiH faces "important challenges" for transition
01/07/2008
High Representative Miroslav Lajcak was in Brussels last week. Also in diplomatic news: Cypriot Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou is in China and Croatian President Stipe Mesic is in Spain.
 High Representative to BiH Miroslav Lajcak (left) met with EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn in Brussels on Friday (June 27th). [EC] |
At a meeting with EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn in Brussels on Friday (June 27th), High Representative to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Miroslav Lajcak said that despite significant progress in BiH over the past month, "important challenges lie ahead to enable a full transition from OHR to EUSR [EU special representative]." Lajcak also briefed the Political and Security Committee, the EU's foreign policy body, on the situation in BiH.
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Cypriot Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou left on Saturday (June 28th) for a three-day visit to China. He will discuss bilateral relations and island reunification efforts with his Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi.
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Croatian President Stipe Mesic left on Saturday (June 28th) for a three-day visit to Spain. On Sunday, he opened the Day of Croatia at World Expo 2008 in Saragossa.
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Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) presidency members Haris Silajdzic, Nebojsa Radmanovic and Zeljko Komsic left on Sunday (June 29th) for a five-day official visit to Malaysia. They are scheduled to meet King Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
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Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Security Minister Tarik Sadovic and NATO Assistant Secretary General for Operations Martin Howard signed a memorandum of understanding between Sarajevo and the Alliance aimed at facilitating civil cross-border transport Thursday (June 26th) in Brussels. The document envisions co-operation in handling the consequences of the use of or accidents involving chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear agents.
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Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis promised his country's support for Montenegro's EU integration process during a meeting with his Montenegrin counterpart, Milo Djukanovic, on Monday (June 30th) in Athens. His visit came in the context of his country's intention to apply for EU candidate country status later this year.
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Greek Parliament Speaker Dimitris Sioufas met with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov on Monday (June 30th) in Moscow. They discussed bilateral economic relations, particularly progress of the construction of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline and the South Stream natural-gas pipeline.
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NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and Romanian President Traian Basescu discussed NATO and EU defence policies during a meeting Monday (June 30th) in Brussels. They also discussed the military mission in Afghanistan, the situation in the Western Balkans and the Black Sea region and NATO enlargement.
(Various sources 24/06/08-01/07/08)