First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Vesna Pusić is participating 13 and 14 May at a NATO ministerial meeting in Antalya, Turkey. A part of the meeting was devoted to US State Secretary John Kerry’s report on his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Ukraine, relations between America and Russia and a possible peaceful solution to the problem, Pusić said. “This is the first time in a while that Kerry was cautiously optimistic. Of course, we need to see how some of the things they agreed on can be implemented,” she said.
Present at the meeting, which also discussed Afghanistan, were the new Afghan foreign minister and foreign ministers of countries which are participating or have participated in the ISAF mission in and now in the Resolute Support Mission. “Croatia is one of those countries. Croatia believes in security and civil cooperation and so, amongst else, in addition to military presence, we have just completed an important project, building a hospital in Afghanistan where midwives will be trained,” Pusić said.
The participants spoke about reasons for destabilisation and how to raise security in northern Afghanistan, as well as about supporting Afghanistan after 2016 when the Resolute Support Mission is expected to end, and also of the need for cooperation with civil institutions and segments of society in Afghanistan,” the minister said.
The meeting is also expected to discuss cooperation with Ukraine and the Open Door Policy. “One particularly important topic for us is the question of an invitation to Montenegro,” Pusić said.