Individually and all together, Nordic countries have made a considerable contribution to the revival of our region after the wars; even this building was rebuilt thanks to the support from the Kingdom of Norway – Vehid Sehic, co-president of the Igman Initiative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, pointed out at the beginning of the presentation of the Nordic model of cooperation, which was held on November 26th 2012 in the Parliament building of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo. Parliamentarians in Bosnia and Herzegovina who took part in the round table discussion on the occasion of this presentation were introduced by Mr. Sehic to the Igman Initiative’s idea to apply positive experiences of the Nordic model in this region, above all in the field of inter-parliamentary cooperation, with the support from the Norwegian Embassy in Belgrade. For the purpose of realization of this idea, Igman Initiative received full support of the Nordic Council and Nordic countries’ Embassies in Dayton Agreement signatory countries.
During her explanation of the Nordic model of cooperation, Ms. Vibeke Lilloe, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway in Bosnia and Herzegovina, had put special attention on the selection of spheres of cooperation and emphasized that it made the region open for free movement of people, goods and labor force, as well as for all forms of education. She expressed her support for the Igman Initiative’s idea to launch inter-parliamentary cooperation, because it easily attracts support from the Dayton Agreement signatory countries and brings fast results in the given field. At the end of her address, Ms. Vibeke Lilloe promised full support of the Norwegian Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina for future activities in promotion of the Nordic model of cooperation and application of its positive experiences in this region.
Having in mind that representatives of all significant parliamentary groups and bodies took part in this round table, participants offered a number of concrete propositions for future work in realization of the Igman Initiative’s project and promised their full support in the process.
Presentation of the Nordic model of cooperation in Sarajevo was covered by many media outlets, such as, TV network of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Federation TV, TV1, TV Sarajevo, FACE TV, Radio Bosnia and Herzegovina, Federation Radio, Radio Old Town (“Stari grad”), daily newspapers “Oslobodjenje”, “Dnevni Avaz”, etc.