Osijek and Mostar officially became twin cities after Osijek Mayor Ivan Radic and Mostar Mayor Mario Kordic signed an Agreement of Friendship and Cooperation in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday.

The agreement notes that it is aimed at advancing friendly relations, particularly with regard to the economy, culture, tourism, education and sports.

Mostar's Mayor Kordic underscored that the two cities have several similarities and have been connected for years. He in particular underscored cooperation in higher education.

“The University of Mostar and the University of Osijek cooperate closely, and we also cooperate a lot in the field of health,” Kordic said.

Osijek Mayor Radic said that a large number of Osijek citizens originate from Mostar and Herzegovina. Mostar is the fifteenth city to become Osijek's twin. He said that Osijek would share its experiences with Mostar and the “positive economic and demographic trends” it has experienced over the past ten years.

For the first time, we have more immigrants than emigrants, the average wage is increasing, the number of people employed is growing as is the number of tourist nights, and I believe that we will exchange some experiences with Mostar. Today and yesterday we saw that infrastructure projects are underway in Mostar and that it is progressing,” Radic said.