site.btaForeign Minister Starts Visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina

Sarajevo/Sofia, August 3 (BTA) - Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva is visiting Bosnia and Herzegovina between Thursday and Friday, the Foreign Ministry's press office said.

The trip is part of a Balkan tour during which Zaharieva is presenting the priorities of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2018. The European perspective of the Western Balkans will be in the main focus of the Bulgarian EU Presidency.

On Thursday, Zaharieva went to the Butmir military base in Sarajevo, where she talked with the commanders of the NATO force and of the European Union Force Althea (EUFOR Althea). Speaking with Austrian Major General Anton Waldner, who leads EUFOR, Zaharieva expressed Bulgaria's support for the mission.

Bulgaria has been participating in EUFOR Althea from the very beginning. Since September 2012, the country has committed 10 servicepersons to the operation's headquarters in Sarajevo and a lightly manoeuvrable company with a national support element comprising up to 140 servicepersons and up to 40 vehicles to the Intermediate Reserve. The company is stationed in Bulgaria on standby for possible deployment.

Zaharieva also met with the Bulgarian EUFOR contingent.

The US Army's Brigadier General Robert Huston, who is the NATO commander in Bosnia and Herzegovina, told Zaharieva he was impressed by the crisis response capabilities of the Bulgarian military.

The diplomat also met with municipality mayors and NGOs that have received development assistance from the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry.

On Friday, Zaharieva will meet with Foreign Minister Igor Crnadak. She will also confer with Bakir Izetbegovic, a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and with Mirko Sarovic, Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations. Zaharieva and Bosnia and Herzegovina's Defence Minister Marina Pendes will get together for a working lunch.