The Ambassador of Germany to BIH Maria Ulrike Knotz appealed to political leaders in BIH to find a solution as soon as possible for the implementation to the Sejdić-Finci case in order to have the Stabilization and Association Agreement come into force.
Ambassador Knotz, in an interview with Fena, spoke of the successful cooperation between Germany and BiH in all segments, such as in culture, education, economic issues as well as political opportunities.
“If we look in the field of culture, there is a lot of good cooperation through the Goethe Institute, but also in the context of the development of the German language in BiH high schools. The interest for German language is huge and we are doing all we can to meet the needs for knowledge of German in BIH’’, said Knotz.
The general relations between the two countries is very good, confirmed the Ambassador, especially among the people. The reason for this is a large number of gastarbeiters who left for Germany before the war and around 360.000 refugees and displaced people who found their homes in Germany after the war.
This confirms the fact that now there is large partnership between cities in BIH and Germany, said Knotz.
“If I make a comparison with other countries in the region, then it is evident by the fact that BIH and Germany have a well-functioning partnership between cities of the two countries’’, said Knotz.
Speaking of the economy, Ambassador Knotz said that Germany, after Croatia, is the biggest and most important partner in foreign trade in BIH, with notable and a large number of German investments, while at the same time new projects are being realized.
She said that BIH is not poor, but is a country that has huge economic potential, and the greatest difficulties faced by German investors is administrative.
When it comes to providing assistance in the economic sense, they are continuously signing protocols on cooperation with certain institutions and places, and the interest of Germany is currently focused on energy.
“Also, we wish to lend support to small and medium companies, and we are working on regional economic development as well as the development of communal economy at the local level’’, explained Ambassador Knotz.
She said that the overall cooperation between the two countries is developing in the context of BIH coming closer to the EU.
(Source: Fena)