Working meeting of the members of delegations of four parliaments was held in Sarajevo as part of the Conference ″Perspectives on foreign policy in regional and cross-border cooperation″, and at the initiative of chairmen of committees on international relations of parliaments of Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Croatia and Republic of Serbia.

On this occasion, participants of the meeting agreed that cooperation between countries in the region, through the activities of committees on international relations of four parliaments, should continuously be improved in order to build peace and trust and economic development of four countries.

Discussing past cooperation activities of committees on international relations of parliaments of Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Croatia and Republic of Serbia, the Chairman Vuković said that the first initial meeting of chairmen of committees on international relations of parliaments of the South Eastern Europe region, which was held on 18 - 19 October 2012 in Zagreb, at the initiative of the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Parliament of the Republic of Croatia, Mr Milorad Pupovac, was a good introduction to the commencement of intensive cooperation between the committees of four parliaments. In addition, it was concluded that this form of cooperation should be maintained in the future, with greater involvement of executive authorities and NGOs in this process.

Chairman Vuković also mentioned meetings that were held in Sarajevo on 15 March 2013, in Belgrade on 5 July 2013 and in Podgorica on 11 February 2014 – when the topic was ″Environmental protection and sustainable development″. At the end of his speech he stated that it should be continued with the practice of each country to be the holder of certain topics in the area of ​​cooperation, which had been one of the proposals at the meeting held in Sarajevo on 15 March 2013, as well as that governments of four countries should be informed about the initiatives arising from joint meetings, so that they become an integral part of the foreign policy of countries in the region. Chairman Vuković also supported the proposal of the member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Ms Marija Obradović, that one of the issues at future joint meetings of representatives of committees of four parliaments should be the question of the status of women in the region, and gender equality.

It was concluded at the end of the meeting that this form of cooperation should be continued with in the future, with greater involvement of executive authorities of the countries in question, international organizations and NGO sector.

The conference under the topic ″Perspectives on foreign policy in regional and cross-border cooperation″ is planned for tomorrow, to be organised by the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Embassy of the Swiss Confederation to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the NGO - Foreign Policy Initiative Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Chairman of the Committee on International Relations and Emigrants, Mr Miodrag Vuković, will speak on the subject of regional and cross-border cooperation and the role of the committee on international relations in that process.