He will meet with the Croatian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.
On Wednesday, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson will arrive in Zagreb in an official visit to Croatia, where he will meet with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and his Croatian counterpart Ivo Davor Stier, reports Večernji List on November 7, 2016.
Johnson is a two-term former Mayor of London and was one of the leaders of the campaign for Britain to leave the European Union. It was expected he would run for the successor of Prime Minister David Cameron, but he decided against running and instead accepted the post of Foreign Secretary after Theresa May became the Prime Minister.
In Zagreb, he will discuss Brexit, relations between the United Kingdom and Croatia, and the rights of Croatian citizens after Britain leaves the European Union. One of the topics will also be security and the situation in southeast Europe. “We want to remain in such relationship with Britain that will allow good cooperation, especially in terms of security and transatlantic relations, and in fighting terrorism”, say Croatian diplomatic sources.
One of the issues that will be a topic of negotiations between the EU and Britain will be the free movement of people, which is guaranteed as a fundamental right within the European Union. However, Croatia is in a unique position compared to other EU member states, since Britain is one of a few countries that have not yet abolished the restrictions on employment of Croatian workers and last year extended them for another three years.
“To us, it is important that Croatian citizens have the same status as other EU citizens. Croatian citizens are entitled to the freedom of movement, regardless of the fact that this right has still not been implemented in the United Kingdom. Therefore, in any future arrangement between Great Britain and the European Union, Croatian citizens must be equal with other citizens of the Union”, say Croatian diplomats.
Johnson’s visit to Croatia will take place in the framework of diplomatic initiatives and his tour of Europe after the Brexit referendum.
