Jansa and Spiric Discuss Efforts to Solve LB Debt
Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa and the presiding member of the Bosnia-Herzegovina council of ministers Nikola Spiric agreed on Monday that the two countries should continue pursuing a solution to the issue of unpaid foreign currency deposits held by Bosnian savers in a defunct Slovenian bank.
Speaking to the press after Monday's meeting in Sarajevo, the two heads of government said that experts should tackle the issue of the debt of LB to Bosnian foreign currency account holders, which is estimated at around EUR 90m.
The pair stressed that this was an open issue stemming from the break-up of the former Yugoslavia. While Jansa reiterated Slovenia's view that the matter was part of succession, Spiric said that it must be tackled bilaterally.
Moreover, Jansa said that a distorted image had been created that large amounts of funds held by the Sarajevo LB had been diverted to Slovenia. The money was held in the central bank of the former Yugoslavia and state central banks, he pointed out.
"This money was not in Slovenia and was not spent by Slovenia," Jansa stressed. He said that this needed to be considered when looking for a solution.
Jansa, paying the first official visit by a Slovenian head of government in Bosnia-Herzegovina since 1997, was met by protesters demanding that Slovenia repay the LB debt as he arrived in Sarajevo. The protesters carried signs saying "War on Slovenian Goods", "Slovenia, Aren't You Ashamed?" and "Janez, Give Us Our Money Back".
While Slovenia does not oppose meetings of a joint expert group established in line with a 2004 agreement between the governments, it believes that they will not change much, Jansa said.
Meanwhile, Spiric said it was important that there was agreement the LB debt must be tackled by experts, which is why the work of the group should be bolstered in order to come by a solution fitting of two friendly countries.
He stressed that "citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina by all means have the right to demand the fulfillment of their basic human right - that to property".
The two prime ministers expressed satisfaction over the good bilateral relations and about the possibilities for their further growth.
Jansa said he hoped that Bosnia would meet conditions for signing the Stabilisation and Accession agreement with the EU before the year was out.
According to him, one of the priorities of Slovenia when it holds the EU presidency in the first half of 2008 will be giving the Western Balkans a European future.
Following the Jansa-Spiric talks, Labour, the Family and Social Affairs Minister Marjeta Cotman and her Bosnian counterpart Sredoje Novic initialed an agreement on social security, which was seven years in the making.
Spiric said the agreement addressed one of the main open issues between the countries, resolving the problems of some 20,000 citizens of Bosnia who spent most of their working years in Slovenia. Cotman said the agreement would Slovenia just over EUR 10m a year.
Cotman said, however, that the accord, which needs to be approved in parliament, does not resolve the double taxation of pensions for Bosnian pensioners. This will require the two countries to sign an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation.
Jansa also met the members of the Bosnia-Herzegovina presidium under chairman Nebojsa Radmanovic and the speaker of the lower house of parliament Beriz Belkic.
The Slovenian prime minister, accompanied by CEO of food company Droga Kolinska Robert Ferko and presidium member Haris Silajdzic, also opened a pate factory in Hadzici, a town on the western outskirts of Sarajevo.
The factory, which has been operating since October, employs 200 people and is the largest Slovenian investment in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It will produce some 4,500 tonnes of pate a year.
Economy Minister Andrej Vizjak and Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel meanwhile opened new offices of Slovenian software company Hermes SoftLab.
Rupel also met his Bosnian counterpart Sven Alkalaj. The two ministers called for strengthening political and economic relations between the countries, the Slovenian Foreign Ministry said.
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