TRIŠIĆ BABIĆ: ISRAELI INVESTMENTS IN REPUBLIKA SRPSKA TO BE AGREED NEXT WEEK

BANJA LUKA, SEPTEMBER 12 /SRNA/ – Delegations from Republika Srpska will visit Israel again next week to discuss further cooperation and seek agreement on the first concrete Israeli investment projects in Republika Srpska, Acting Director of the Office for International Cooperation Ana Trišić Babić said.

Trišić Babić reminded that she had recently travelled to Israel with President Milorad Dodik, at the invitation of the board of the foundation established in memory of the late Shimon Peres, to attend a commemorative event marking the 10th anniversary of his death.

"However, it was a great honor and pleasure to also receive an invitation from the US ambassador to attend a major reception marking the 250th anniversary of US independence at the US Embassy in Jerusalem," she said in a statement to "Srpskainfo".

She stressed that Ambassador Mike Huckabee was not an ordinary ambassador, but a figure who had long been active in US political life.

"He was the first ambassador appointed by US President /Donald/ Trump to a particular country and is someone who is practically in contact with the White House and Washington 24 hours a day, because the United States is one of Israel's strategic partners. So, this was not an ordinary invitation.

I was honored and pleased that someone recognized that I was there as a representative of Republika Srpska and invited us. I cannot describe that diplomatic reception as ordinary. It was something completely different, much more high-profile and held in a much larger space," Trišić Babić said.

She stresses that Israel is a special partner of Republika Srpska, but does not lobby for Republika Srpska in the United States.

"We do not ask Israel to speak on behalf of Republika Srpska. We get what we really need from them - they open doors for us, while we represent Republika Srpska's positions ourselves. So, it was an opportunity and an honor. It is not common for someone visiting another country to be invited to a US reception at such a high level," Trišić Babić said.

Trišić Babić stressed that relations between Republika Srpska and Israel were not new and had not intensified because, as some critics like to claim, Republika Srpska was trying to move closer to Israel in order to gain access to the United States.

"That is not true. Anyone who follows relations between Republika Srpska and Israel knows that we established one of our first representative offices, which we were entitled to establish under the Dayton Peace Accords, in Jerusalem 20 years ago. Our contacts, ties and friendship with Israel have been carefully built over the past two decades," she said.

She stressed that Israel's current administration recognized the continuity in Republika Srpska's relations with Israel and the way those ties had been built.

"One significant development was the recent opening of the Israel Chamber of Commerce in Banja Luka. This happened after a January meeting in Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, when he instructed his administration to establish the Israel Chamber of Commerce in Banja Luka. There were also discussions about opening some form of consulate general, but Israel does not have an embassy in BiH. For now, Israel covers us from Tirana," she noted.

Reminding that she had signed a memorandum with the president of the Israel Chamber of Commerce, Trišić Babić explained that the memorandum provided a broad platform for strengthening and developing the full range of relations that Republika Srpska and Israel had built over the years, while giving those ties an economic dimension.