The presidents of Croatia and Serbia, Ivo Josipovic and Boris Tadic, and the members of the Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina, said on July 18 that they supported the Euro-Atlantic integration of all three countries and underscored the importance of holding joint meetings for all three countries and the entire region.

The meeting at the White Villa on Croatia's Brijuni Islands, in which, besides Josipovic and Tadic, Bosnian Presidency members Zeljko Komsic, Bakir Izetbegovic and Nebojsa Radmanovic also took part, is the first meeting between the heads of state of Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia.

After the meeting, which lasted around three hours, Josipovic told a joint news conference that these kinds of trilateral meetings had perhaps been a long time coming and that they were important first and foremost because of the dependence the three countries, which were linked in many ways - from borders and people to culture, art and tradition - have on one another.

Serbian President Boris Tadic, highlighting the importance of such meetings, said that this kind of meeting had probably not happened earlier because of a lack of political will and that he hoped such meetings would become practice.

Zeljko Komsic, the current chair of the three-member Bosnian Presidency, said that the talks had been "honest, open and were not just a show."

Asked about Croatia and Serbia's attitude toward Bosnia, Tadic said the neither country could have the position of leader, of hegemony over their neighboring country. He added that Croatia and Serbia were signatories of the Dayton Agreement, but that neither Croatia nor Serbia could involve themselves in Bosnia's internal affairs.

Joint announcement of representatives of BiH, Croatia and Serbia

At the informal trilateral meeting of BiH Presidency and presidents of Croatia and Serbia that was held on Monday in Brijuni, the presidents talked about the continuation of reconciliation process and resolving of outstanding issues between the three countries.

In particular, they discussed the cooperation in the field of security and justice, supporting all previous agreements of competent ministries and prosecutions.

The importance of cooperation on the issues of prevention of organized crime and persons responsible for war crimes was stressed at the meeting.

They particularly commented on the future of the regional countries as full members of the European Union.

As future EU member state, as well as the nearest neighboring state, Croatia is ready to give to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia all political and technical assistance and support in the process of negotiations and integrations into the European Union.

The presidents also discussed about encouraging of the development of necessary infrastructure in the region, as the basic precondition for further development of economic relations and growth of the economy in general.

In the field of transport, they suggest to their governments to plan a regional network of motorways, express roads, railroads, logistics centers and development of ports at the Adriatic Sea and the Sava and Danube rivers.