Serbian leader's Bosnia visit ends with economic goals

By Sanela Crnovrsanin

SARAJEVO (AA) - The Serbian president's historic two-day visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina's capital Sarajevo ended on Friday with the setting of economic targets.

Trade volume between the countries can reach €2 billion a year, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told reporters after meeting in Sarajevo with Denis Zvizdic, chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The current trade volume is about €1.3 billion a year.

"We do not have to forget the past. Nobody pushes us on this, nobody wants it. But we must focus on our children, the future," Vucic said.

There is a need to improve relations and solve the difficulties between the countries, Vucic said, adding: "Serbia is a real friend of Bosnia-Herzegovina."

He also stated that a joint meeting of the countries' cabinet ministers is expected to be hosted in the Serbian capital Belgrade later this year.

Vuvic's visit was his first trip to Bosnia-Herzegovina since he sworn as a president in May.

Serbia has not yet officially recognized the 1995 Srebrenica massacre as a genocide despite calls by the Council of Europe to do so.

Serbia's parliament in 2010 adopted a resolution condemning the Srebrenica massacres, but failed to define the crime as a genocide.

About 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed when the Bosnian Serb army attacked the UN “safe area” of Srebrenica in July 1995, despite the presence of Dutch troops tasked with acting as UN peacekeepers.

* Ilker Girit contributed to this story from Istanbul