The United States Embassy in B&H and the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina welcome the meeting of the religious leaders of Herzegovina - Bishop of Mostar Duvno Diocese Petar Palić, Mostar Mufti Salem Effendi Dedović, and Orthodox Bishop Dimitrije.

The United States and the OSCE Mission to B&H recognize the role of religious communities in promoting peace, reconciliation, and mutual understanding.

The city of Mostar and the country as a whole will benefit significantly from interreligious dialogue in Herzegovina. We hope today’s meeting will lead to many more fruitful discussions between the Mostar religious leaders. Such joint meetings send a powerful signal to the followers of the respective faiths that steps towards peace and reconciliation are worth taking.

The United States and the OSCE Mission to B&H strongly believe that this is a message that the citizens of Mostar and all of Bosnia and Herzegovina need. We commend the religious leaders of Herzegovina for modeling courage, dialogue, and leading reconciliation efforts. We encourage political leaders in Mostar and throughout B&H to engage more frequently with religious leaders on issues of concern to religious communities and the faithful they represent.