It is important that we attend events where world leaders gather and that we have a large number of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of these gatherings. We must be present and speak about Bosnia and Herzegovina and not allow anyone to talk about us without our presence. I think that so far this inertness of our diplomacy has cost us dearly, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Elmedin Konakovic told FENA from New York.

According to him, the outlines of this increased communication can already be seen in terms of political attitudes and decisions coming from Brussels, but also from other important centers.

”In a short period, as we announced, we managed to bring Bosnia and Herzegovina back into focus and we continue to work on it, and these opportunities enable us to be successful in this,” the BiH Foreign Minister pointed out.

Konakovic leads numerous activities of the BiH delegation on the sidelines of the session of the United Nations General Assembly. Among other things, he referred to the meeting organized by the foreign ministers of Italy, Croatia, and Slovenia with the ministers of foreign affairs of the countries of the Western Balkans.

”These three countries are truly advocating the fastest possible accession of our countries to the European Union. We have adopted some concrete conclusions, and we have created a working group that will meet within the UN, work together, lobby for the fastest possible expansion of the Union and the best possible position of our countries in that process,” Minister Konakovic stated.

The active working day of the BiH delegation in New York was completed by participating in a meeting on sustainable development and attending an event on artificial intelligence as one of the tools in the development of the economy organized by Japan, the USA, Singapore, Great Britain and a few other countries. It was an opportunity to meet with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who hosted another important event that Minister Konakovic also attended. Namely, there was talk about the increase in the number of deaths from synthetic drugs and the coalition assembled by Secretary Blinken on behalf of the USA, which is working very well.

”I hope that the BiH Presidency will accept the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that we join that coalition as soon as possible in the fight against synthetic drugs that have taken many lives in the USA, Canada, Mexico and other parts of the world. On the margins of all these meetings, we exchanged very important information and we use every opportunity to inform important foreign ministers about the processes in BiH,” Konakovic said.

He also participated in an event organized by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and German Minister of Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock, and in his statement for FENA, Minister Konakovic singled out the traditional dinner organized by the Mission of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the UN, where all representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina discussed the activities that await them in the coming days in New York.