Slovenia backs Bosnia's EU membership process: Minister

BELGRADE, Serbia

Slovenia supports Bosnia and Herzegovina's EU membership process, the Slovenian defense minister said on Tuesday.

"I think it would be better to focus on what Bosnia Herzegovina will do to continue its progress towards the EU, and this is our common goal right now,” said Marjan Sarec in a joint press conference with his Bosnian counterpart Zukan Helez in the capital Sarajevo.

Sarec added that Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia are bound by the “same values and traditionally close relations.”

“Slovenia remains fully committed to the EUFOR Mission, which we consider a key element of security and stabilization in the country,” he said.

EUFOR is a military deployment in Bosnia and Herzegovina that was established in 2004 to oversee the military implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement and ensure the country’s security.

Helez, for his part, said: “We have 16 joint projects with Slovenia in 2023, half of them were carried out in Slovenia and the other half in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I would like to state that we help each other in difficult times.”

Bosnia and Herzegovina gained EU candidate country status on Dec. 15, 2022.