Serbian Leader to Visit Bosnia in May

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic will pay his first official visit to Sarajevo on May 13 – a move seen as a step forward in relations between the two neighbouring countries.

Nebojsa Radmanovic, the Serbian member of the presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said Serbia’s newly appointed Prime Minister will visit Sarajevo at the invitation of the head of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Vjekoslav Bevanda.

Radmanovic said the Serbian leader would be welcome in Bosnia, and that his visit should not be marked by controversy.

“The visit will represent a step forward in relations between Serbia and Bosnia, and a step closer to good cooperation between the two countries, which has improved lately,” he said.

The visit will be Vucic’s first visit to a foreign country since he took office on April 27.

On Monday, Bakir Izetbegovic, the Bosniak member of Bosnia’s tripartite presidency, told Tanjug news agency that he had already invited Vucic to participate in a Sarajevo Business Forum due to take place on May 14 and 15.

Izetbegovic expressed the hope that Vucic would accept the invitation, as it would be a good opportunity to discuss promotion of economic cooperation and joint projects aimed at the economic recovery and development of Serbia and Bosnia.

“Through a coordinated approach, we can attract significant foreign investments to the region, especially in the fields of energy, infrastructure, agriculture and tourism, and open up new markets for our companies abroad,’ Izetbegovic said.

According to the Serbian government, Vucic has yet to confirm whether he will take part in the forum.