President Grabar Kitarović confirmed that her reciprocal visit to Serbia has not been canceled

Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović stated on Friday that Croatia still has an outstretched hand for dialogue with Serbia, but that it takes two to engage in such discussions.

“We have an outstretched hand for dialogue, but it takes two to engage. Therefore, it is not just a matter of discussing open issues, but there must also be a sincere desire to resolve them,” the president said in Skopje, where on the second day of her visit to Macedonia she is participating in the Brdo-Brijuni process meeting, which will also be attended by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.

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The Serbian government on Thursday declared Croatian Defense Minister Damir Krstičević a persona non grata in a reciprocal response to Croatia’s ban on entry for Serbian Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin.

Grabar-Kitarović believes that the leaders of Croatia and Serbia “must be mature enough to resolve open issues” and emphasized that Croatia is fully prepared to engage in dialogue with Serbia “in the spirit of good neighborliness,” but in a way that “preserves the dignity of the Croatian state, the people, and all Croatian citizens, including the Serbian community in Croatia.”

She stated that her planned visit to Serbia in response to Aleksandar Vučić’s invitation, who visited Croatia in February, still stands.

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“No one has canceled that. I am willing to continue cooperating; however, before that, we need to make some concrete steps. They have occurred after the last visit; let us not underestimate them as positive things have happened, but we must move forward in our bilateral relations,” said Grabar-Kitarović.

She confirmed that she spoke with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Friday morning regarding relations with Serbia and asserted that the top Croatian leadership needs to generally discuss relations with neighboring countries more.

“I believe that coordination is extremely important to protect the interests of our country, but also to show that Croatia is a mature European democracy that approaches all open issues rationally, but from the position of protecting national interests,” she concluded.

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Grabar-Kitarović is participating in Skopje at the Brdo-Brijuni Process meeting, which Croatia and Slovenia initiated in 2013 to strengthen cooperation and trust in the region and accelerate the path to the EU for those countries that are not yet members of that union.

The meeting also includes leaders from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Montenegro, as well as Boyko Borisov, the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, the current presidency holder of the EU, and President of the European Council Donald Tusk, who is on a tour of the Balkans this week.

“Today I met with Tusk and explained some elements related not only to the relations between Croatia and Serbia but also generally in the Southeast European area,” revealed the Croatian president, who also held a bilateral meeting with Slovenian President Borut Pahor.

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“That was part of our regular meetings that we continue to have,” said Grabar-Kitarović about the meeting with the Slovenian leader, announcing the next meeting in May.

A bilateral meeting between the president and Serbian President Vučić is not planned.

The president met with Croatian entrepreneurs and members of the Croatian police

On the second day of her official visit to Macedonia, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović met with Croatian entrepreneurs and members of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia who are on a mission to secure the southern border in Gevgelija, as announced by the President’s Office.

The president stated that her visit to Macedonia confirms the good bilateral relations between the two countries, but that both Croatia and Macedonia wish to enhance their relations, and in that sense, it is important to utilize the opportunities of both countries to strengthen economic cooperation. She expressed satisfaction with the achieved amounts in trade exchange as well as tourist visits, and emphasized that Croatian companies, such as Podravka, Kraš, and M SAN Group, are satisfied with their operations in Macedonia.

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To the members of the Croatian police, the president expressed gratitude for their support to their Macedonian colleagues in monitoring illegal migrations and for making an important contribution to Croatia’s efforts in facing one of the most significant challenges to Croatian national security, as stated in the announcement.

“Through your engagement, Croatia, along with other Central European partners, has sent a strong message of solidarity to Macedonia, aware that we cannot and must not expect Macedonia to face this enormous challenge alone,” the president stated.

She also met with the Bishop of Skopje, Monsignor Kiro Stojanov, and the parish priest of Skopje, Don Davor Topić, who introduced her to the parish community and activities in the parish and on that occasion thanked her for the support of Croatia and the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in Skopje, the announcement adds.