Ministar Grlić Radman, SMOM Grand Chancellor Paternò di Montecupo discuss strengthening cooperation

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman met on 2 July 2026 with the Grand Chancellor of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Riccardo Paternò di Montecupo, on the occasion of the official visit to Croatia by the Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Fra’ John T. Dunlap.
 
Grlić Radman and Grand Chancellor Paternò di Montecupo reaffirmed the traditionally close and friendly relations between the Republic of Croatia and the Order of Malta, founded on long-standing historical, cultural and religious ties, to which numerous Croatian Knights of Malta have contributed throughout history.
 
Grlić Radman expressed appreciation for the engagement of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in providing assistance to the most vulnerable members of society and to those suffering around the world, including the sick, victims of natural disasters and refugees. He particularly thanked the Order for the humanitarian assistance provided during Croatia’s Homeland War and following the 2020 earthquake in Sisak-Moslavina County, when, in cooperation with Caritas Croatia, it donated more than one hundred prefabricated wooden houses and provided permanent accommodation for many families who had lost their homes. By opening a volunteer medical clinic at the Croatian National Shrine of Our Lady of Marija Bistrica, with the Order of Malta’s Croatian Relief Service as the principal donor, the Order continues its original mission of caring for pilgrims.
 
Both sides agreed that there is scope for developing new joint initiatives in the areas of healthcare, social welfare and crisis management in Croatia, which could be facilitated through the conclusion of a bilateral Cooperation Agreement.
 
Views were also exchanged on the situation in Ukraine and developments in the Middle East. Grlić Radman informed his counterpart about the various forms of support Croatia is providing to Ukraine, as well as the priorities of Croatia’s development and humanitarian assistance in the Middle East. He welcomed the Order of Malta’s intensive humanitarian engagement in the region, including the recent opening of a clinic in Gaza City in partnership with the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, as well as its long-standing successful management of the Holy Family Hospital in Bethlehem, where more than 100,000 children have been born since 1990. The discussion also covered the Order’s humanitarian engagement in Ukraine, through which various forms of assistance have been provided to more than four million people, making it the Order’s largest humanitarian operation since the Second World War.

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