The current Chairman of Bosnia’s tripartite Presidency, Bakir Izetbegovic, said his country supports a two-state solution of the Israel and Palestine conflict, according to a statement issued by his office after his meeting with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Wednesday.

Izetbegovic, who is the Bosniak member of the country’s Presidency, was accompanied on the official trip by Foreign Affairs Minister Igor Crnadak and advisors to the Serb and Croat Presidency members, Zoran Djeric and Igor Planinic, respectively.  

Izetbegovic and Abbas discussed the current situation in their countries and the relations in both the Western Balkan region and the Middle East.  

“Chairman Izetbegovic pointed out that Bosnia and Herzegovina has been following the recent tragic events in the Gaza strip with great concern and that Bosnia’s Presidency appealed for the urgent halting of violence and revival of dialogue,” Izetbegovic’s office said, adding that the Bosniak Presidency member also supported the UN Resolution which calls for the protection of Palestinian civilians.  

According to the statement, Izetbegovic also pointed out that “Bosnia strongly supports the organisation of a peacebuilding conference that will bring about a just and long-term solution to the conflict, based on the principles of international law, with the goal of establishing two independent states.”

The Presidency Chairman called for respecting UN resolutions, stopping any kind of violence, and “seizing the construction on occupied Palestinian territory so that conditions for reviving the negotiations and solving the decades-long crisis can be created.”

Before meeting with Abbas, Izetbegovic also visited the Yasser Arafat Mausoleum to pay respects to the late former Palestinian leader.