Transcript.
“With the last election in Iran, a new team came to power who are fully prepared to liberalise government policy and align it with some of the requirements regarding the country's nuclear programme. I think it is extremely important for the world, Europe and of course Iran itself that it joins the international dialogue. In 2014 international forces will leave Afghanistan, Syria is in the grips of a serious crisis, the situation in Iraq is unstable, we are facing talks on the Middle East, the Southern Mediterranean is not entirely stable… Iran can have an important role as a collocutor on those issues, both because of geopolitics and the relations it has with those countries, historically and in the present. I think the American and especially European policy has reached a point where, given the new power in Iran and the global situation as it is, it is clear that Iran has to become an international collocutor. Croatia is not a major power, but is nevertheless geopolitically interested and capable of participating in those talks and being present. On the one hand, Croatia is an EU member. On the other, our geographical position is such that all of these areas potentially have an effect on us. I have discussed this with my Iranian colleague and we have agreed that Iranian policy is headed in that direction. As regards the issue of sanctions, I believe those talks are headed in the right direction as well.”
At a press conference today, Angela Merkel said she would like to visit Croatia, but that Croatia should honour its commitments. Can you comment on that?
“First of all, allow me to congratulate Angela Merkel on an excellent election result. She has said before that she would come to Croatia after the election and she is certainly very welcome. Since she was preoccupied with her election campaign, she may have not seen that Croatia has met its commitments. I most emphatically believe that Croatia should honour all of its commitments. We have assumed those commitments not in an abstract manner, but because they mean a better regulated state, which is after all in our own interest as well. It is my job as a foreign minister to deal with that and I think we have resolved that matter and it will be seen in the coming days that it has been resolved.”
Are you talking about “Lex Perković”?
“I am talking about aligning our legislature with the European Arrest Warrant.”
One more question. An article in Novi List daily writes that your HNS party has shifted its position as will support amendments to the Constitution. Is that true?
“It's a matter of wording, meaning that it would not be just political murders that would be covered, but all serious murders. The party leadership and I have heard arguments from the prime minister and other ministers and decided that those arguments made sense and we would support them.”