SNS victory in Serbia "encouragement for region"

SNS victory in Serbia "encouragement for region"

SARAJEVO -- Bosnian FM Zlatko Lagumdžija says the landslide victory of Aleksandar Vučić’s SNS is "a great encouragement for the region."

Lagumdžija said that Vučić claimed victory insisting on justice and work, and his foreign policy priorities are joining the European Union and regional cooperation.

He said that Vučić’s statement stressing his intention to deal with the future, rather than the past, is encouraging, as Bosnia-Herzegovina is interested in the future in the EU in the same way as Serbia.

“Vučić is trying to bring together many other people, who have lost the elections, despite there being no need for that, which speaks about the political maturity of the policy he pursues,” Lagumdžija said.

Bosnia-Herzegovina finds it very important to know that Vučić places unity, integrity and democratic future of Bosnia-Herzegovina, as a country integrated into broader regional and European areas, among Serbia’s priorities, he said.

Media in Bosnia's Serb entity, RS, quote Lagumdžija as telling the Turkish Anatolia news agency that Vučić’s victory should help step up trilateral cooperation between Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Turkey.

However, he expects cooperation between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia to intensify first and also that the first joint meeting of the Serbian government and the Bosnian Council of Ministers, which was postponed because of the Serbian elections, will be held soon.