First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Vesna Pusić received the outgoing ambassador of Serbia, H.E. Stanimir Vukićević. The two officials agreed that notable progress has been made in bilateral relations, as evident in the series of visits by highest officials in the past year.
The talks underlined the necessity of continuing the work on solving outstanding issues, with Pusić stressing that Croatia’s priority was the fate of the missing persons, which is an issue that needs to be solved before the withdrawal of charges even be put on the agenda. Pusić said that Croatia and Serbia had to focus more on economic issues in the coming period, as well as on cooperation in linking transport and energy routes, and work on joint appearances on third markets. She also commented on the events in Vukovar surrounding the putting up of bilingual plaques, emphasizing that the Croatian Government would continue to implement minority rights. It is Croatia’s internal issue, but we expect support from Serbian authorities as well since it concerns precisely minority rights, Pusić said.
Talking about the region, Pusić and Vukićević agreed that the stability of Bosnia and Herzegovina was one of the key elements for the stability of the region as a whole and that it was therefore important that all countries actively cooperate on achieving that goal.