Croatian Prime Minister Plenković is in an official visit to Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday in Jerusalem that relations between Israel and Croatia had considerably progressed in recent years and that he was particularly grateful to Croatia for its support at the international level, reports Index.hr on January 24, 2017.
“We have seen a big improvement in our relations in recent years. In particular, I want to thank Croatia for strong support in the international arena, at the EU and the UN. You have advocated very clearly and very firmly for the truth, which means for Israel”, said Netanyahu in a brief statement to reporters after meeting with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.
Plenković said that he was glad that Croatia “has contributed to the debate within the multilateral forum on major security challenges, on Israel and the Middle East peace process, especially within the EU and the UN”. “I believe we can have a constructive dialogue during the changes in the multilateral environment when it comes to instability of Southeast Europe, notably Croatian neighbourhood, and in this regard I count on continuing our dialogue”, said Croatian Prime Minister.
Netanyahu stressed the need for joint struggle “against militant Islamist terrorism, but also for creating balance and stability at the international level, to enable security and prosperity to our peoples”. “That is our common goal”, said the Israeli Prime Minister.
Netanyahu said he hoped that this was not Plenković’s last visit to Israel, since Israel wants to continue to develop relations between the two countries. “We cooperate in many areas and we have just talked about the need for further improvement in the areas of economy, technology, and also in areas where there is already good cooperation, such as disaster prevention”, said Israeli Prime Minister and as an example pointed out the help of Croatian fire-fighting planes during devastating fires in Israel in November. He stressed that he was impressed with capabilities of Croatian pilots.
In case there is need, Croatia is again willing to help, said Plenković, who invited Netanyahu to a return visit. “It is my wish to visit this beautiful country at the appropriate time”, said Netanyahu.
During his stay in Jerusalem, Croatian Prime Minister will also meet with Israeli President Rueven Rivlin and Israeli opposition leader and Hatnuah party president Tzipi Livni. He will visit the Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem, founded in 1953 in memory of the victims of the Holocaust and all those who, risking their own lives, decided to help Jews and save them from genocide. Among them there are 113 Croats.
