2 March 2021

President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic handed over a batch of AstraZeneca vaccines at the airport in Sarajevo, which the Republic of Serbia is donating to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and said that we should speak with one voice in the region because then we are stronger and able to make progress faster.

President Vucic stated that at the meeting with the members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, he proposed that a large Summit between Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina be held in Belgrade, which would gather all levels of government, but also businesspersons from both countries.

"It would be the biggest summit we have made, a summit of trust and openness. To see how to open our borders wider to each other in the future, and to increase the trade in goods, so that we could increase the salaries and pensions of our citizens more", President Vucic said. He added that he would insist that the Balkan nations can help each other best, and pointed out that the donation of vaccines was important not only because of the vaccines, but also because of the matter of mutual trust.

"I am happy if we save five, ten or twenty lives with this. That is an important and big thing. Because we live with each other and next to each other, and there is no one closer to us. Today as well, when we all expected help from someone much more powerful, we rely on each other. We are stronger when we have one voice towards Brussels, the world, when we point out problems together. It is important that we cooperate! Together we can move forward much faster, if we fight together and trust each other. When we ourselves understand that we are a force, we will have the highest growth rate in Europe. That has been and will be the policy of Serbia", President Vucic emphasized.

Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Milorad Dodik thanked President Vucic for the support in the fight against the corona virus pandemic in the form of vaccines, reminding that owing to the Serbian leadership, medical workers from the Republic of Srpska were able to get vaccinated in Serbia, and the Federation of BiH was donated a batch of vaccines.

Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zeljko Komsic underlined that he hoped that today's meeting would mark a new step forward in the relations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.

"Thank you for this kind of help, especially amid these circumstances of undefined relations in terms of Covax and the procurement of vaccines", Komsic underscored.

Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Sefik Dzaferovic thanked Serbia and President Vucic for their solidarity.

"Solidarity, respect, appreciation, resolving open issues through agreement and applying international law when an agreement is not possible - these are the principles on which we want to build our relationship", Dzaferovic explained.

Photo: Presidency of Serbia / Dimitrije Goll