The Prime Minister of Croatia has arrived in Serbia for a visit

2023-06-23 15:13:22, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Prime Minister of Croatia has arrived in Serbia for a visit

Prime Minister of Croatia, Andrej Plenkovic

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic arrived in Serbia on June 23.

In Mitrovica of Srem, he met with the bishop of Srem, Fabijan Svalin.

Plenkovic, from Mitrovica e Srem, will go to Subotica, where he will meet with the Prime Minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabic.

Plenkovi? and Bërnabi?, with their delegations, will participate in the opening of the Croatian House - Amëza (Matica) in Subotica.

The Serbian Minister for Human and Minority Rights, Tomislav Zhigmanov, and the Minister for European Integration, Tanja Miscevic, will participate in the meeting between the Prime Ministers of Croatia and Serbia, announced the Government in Belgrade.

This is Plenkovic's first visit to Serbia since he became prime minister in 2016.

On April 30, the prime minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabic, visited Zagreb, where together with Pllenkovic, she participated in the great assembly of the Serbian National Council, the umbrella organization of the Serbian minority in Croatia.

At that time, they emphasized the importance of respecting the rights and improving the position of the Serbian minority in Croatia and the Croatian minority in Serbia, as well as warned of the creation of a catalog of open issues between the two countries, with the aim of continuing their resolution.

Relations between Belgrade and Zagreb are burdened by unresolved issues even 30 years after the war in the former Yugoslavia.

Both countries have a dispute regarding the border definition in the Danube and have not resolved the issue of succession - the legacy of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRJ).

Among the open issues are the prosecution of war crimes and the finding of the remains of persons who disappeared during the war in Croatia, during the years 1991-1995.

In February of this year, Prime Minister Plenkovic and Serbian President Aleksander Vucic met on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, where they said they wanted better relations.

Vucic has not been on an official visit to Zagreb since 2018, when he was hosted in the Croatian capital by then-president Kolinda Grabar Kitarovac.

Two years earlier, in 2016, they both signed the Declaration for the normalization of relations, in Subotica.

However, "normalization" did not happen and the officials exchanged harsh words with each other.

During the year 2022, Vucic wanted to make a "private" visit to Jasenovc, the memorial complex dedicated to the victims of Ustasha crimes from the Second World War. But the authorities in Zagreb did not allow it, saying it was an unannounced visit and contrary to protocol.

This was followed by an exchange of diplomatic notes between the two countries.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic participated in the celebration of Orthodox Christmas in January 2023 in Zagreb, with Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dacic./ REL