Bosnia and Herzegovina is at an important crossroads, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in Sarajevo on Tuesday, repeating her strong message regarding Bosnia's European integration, which she conveyed ahead of the visit.

After she arrived on Monday afternoon, Baerbock met with the members of tripartite Presidency and resumed the visit a day later by meeting her Bosnian counterpart, Elmedin Konakovic.

Germany’s Baerbock ahead of Sarajevo visit: Bosnia is at a crossroads of EU accession process

German FM starts official visit to Sarajevo

Speaking about the country's path to the European Union, the German diplomat stressed that a country can join the Union only as a whole. She also strongly objected secessionist threats.

“You felt it here, the greatest poison for humanity is to change borders by force. Secessionist fantasies put obstacles in the way towards EU. I call on those responsible in Banja Luka to walk this path together and as one,” she stressed, adding that she discussed the matter with the Presidency.

She also mentioned the good relations between Germany and BiH.

“The human connections between our countries are important. We want to expand them in both directions. Economic cooperation is strong, its potential remains great. Investors also pay particular attention to security and the rule of law,” she added.

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Addressing the media following the meeting, Konakovic emphasised the importance of this visit and exceptional cooperation between BiH and Germany.

“Germany has been topping the list of BiH's most important economic partners for years,” he said, adding that Germany's support to Bosnia's European path means a lot at this moment of history.

He expressed hope that his colleagues in the government will resume the work on “not so easy negotiations and meet their obligations,” at this moment when the country has specific offers in regard with the integration into the European market.

Konakovic also noted that BiH is intensively working on the details of the legislation needed for the progress on the EU path, including the Law on Conflict of Interests.

“The talks we insist on pay off and they bring a long benefits for the citizens primarily, maybe not for the politicians, which is why arguments begin and people are leaving BiH. Today we talked about all the details and what matters a lot is our message of commitment against the corruption that our partners insist on,” he stressed, mentioning the cases against former intelligence chief and the President of the Court of BiH as well as the case of sentenced former prime minister of the Federation entity as examples of those efforts.