New Foreign Minister Lienhardt delivers his inaugural address in Parliament
© APA / HANS PUNZ
The new Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Lienhardt (ÖVP) will make his first visit abroad on Thursday and Friday. Leinhart is visiting the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo, where, in addition to the three-person state presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, he will meet with Mayor Benjamin Karic, Foreign Minister Becera Tarkovic, High Representative Christian Schmidt and Commander EUFOR. Alexander Plazer. The focus is on EU enlargement in the Western Balkans.
In the lead-up to the trip, the 63-year-old diplomat spoke of visiting “our neighbors, friends and hopefully allies within the European Union for the foreseeable future”. Lienhardt said he would continue Austria’s commitment “unchecked” to the accession of Western Balkan countries to the European Union. “This is not just an Austrian tradition, it is a matter close to my heart and central to my foreign policy.”
On Thursday, Lienhardt will hold talks with High Representative Schmidt and Social Democracy Mayor Turkowicz as well as finalizing appointments as part of the post-coronavirus economic reconstruction project “ReFocus Austria” promoted by the Vienna Foreign Ministry. Appointments with the Prime Minister, Zoran Tegltija, as well as the Presidency and Foreign Minister Turkovic, which are based on ethnic criteria with representatives of Bosniaks (Muslims), Croats (Catholics) and Serbs (Orthodox), will follow on Friday.
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