President of the Slovak Republic Ivan Gašparovič paid an official visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina on 27 and 28 November 2012. The Slovak head of state was welcomed in Sarajevo by Chairman of the BiH Presidency Nebojša Radmanović (Serb) and the two other members of the Presidency, Željko Komšić (Croat) and Bakir Izetbegović (Bosniak).

“I believe that my visit will fulfil two goals. The one is to intensify our trade and economic cooperation. The other one is to spur the efforts of Bosnia and Herzegovina to join the European Union and the NATO,” the Slovak President said. “After the many years since the adoption of the Dayton Agreement, Bosnia and Herzegovina should assume responsibility for its future. I am sure you have strong prospects under the current leadership to do so,” Ivan Gašparovič told journalists after the talks in Sarajevo.

The incumbent Chairman of the Presidency Nebojša Radmanović thanked the Slovak guest for Slovakia’s assistance and support to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s integration efforts.  “We want to rely on friends, including Slovakia, on our road to further development and prosperity,” Radmanović added. He said a more intensive economic cooperation and bilateral trade exchange were a key priority.

Radmanović expressed his belief that the visit of the Slovak President accompanied by Slovak entrepreneurs would contribute to increasing the volume of bilateral trade exchange which had amounted to EUR 106 million last year.

The President and his delegation also visited the Parliamentary Assembly in Sarajevo and held talks with Chairman of the House of Representatives Božo Ljubić and Deputy Chairmen of the House of Peoples.

“The EU prospects which Brussels offers can also help us to solve our domestic political issues,” Ljubić said. The Chairman of the House of Representatives asked the Slovak President for assistance in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s convergence towards the EU and NATO.

Ivan Gašparovič emphasised the importance of a legislative branch in drafting reform legislation necessary to implement EU’s pre-accession requirements. “Slovakia has from the very beginning supported Bosnia and Herzegovina’s EU integration efforts, and we will remain supportive of your integration,” the Slovak President said at a meeting in the parliament. However, Ivan Gašparovič conveyed a message from Brussels to Sarajevo that “the European Union’s image of Bosnia and Herzegovina is in its integrity and preservation of its current political division.”

Ivan Gašparovič’s official visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina continued with a visit to Banja Luka, the administrative capital of the Republika Srpska. The Slovak head of state addressed a business forum organised by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republika Srpska, attended by Bosnian Serb and Slovak entrepreneurs. President of the Chamber Borko Durić described the mutual economic cooperation as fairly good, but insufficient. In his opinion, the bilateral trade exchange amounting to EUR 106 million last year was not enough.

“I have to admit that the mutual potential for cooperation between our companies and local businesses is unsatisfactory,” the Slovak President said in his address. “Our economy is on the rise, having the second strongest economic growth in Europe as calculated by the EU; our GDP is expected to grow at a rate of 2.6% next year and our companies should also be capable of investing abroad,” he added.

In Banja Luka, Ivan Gašparovič was received by President of the Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik. He thanked the Slovak guest for support to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s integration efforts into the EU. According to Dodik, “we would like to learn from the Slovak story and Slovakia’s experience with the transition process, as well as from the difficulties it had to overcome on its way to the European Union.”

The Slovak President reiterated before the President of the Republika Srpska that after 17 years since the signing of the Dayton Agreement, now was time for Bosnia and Herzegovina to assume responsibility for its future development. “After the talks I held with BiH officials in Sarajevo and Banja Luka, I firmly believe that you have good prospects in this respect,” Ivan Gašparovič assured. He stressed that Bosnia and Herzegovina “belongs to Europe”, and that the future and stability of the Western Balkans depended on the stability of the Republika Srpska as an independent entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina. “If the Republika Srpska is successful, Bosnia and Herzegovina will be successful, as well,” the Slovak President added.

President Gašparovič reminded his host Milorad Dodik that rejecting Bosnia and Herzegovina’s heading to the North Atlantic Alliance might not pay off in the future. “Even in Slovakia, support for its NATO membership was initially not high,” Gašparovič told Dodik. He pointed out, however, that “membership of all countries of the Western Balkan region in NATO would be beneficial for the stability of the entire region.” “We are glad Slovakia supports integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina into NATO. In the Republika Srpska, we want to study the concept and system of the Alliance functioning thoroughly. We are well aware that the entry into this organisation is not merely a political issue, but political and economic, as well,” Milord Dodik told journalists after the meeting.