ZAGREB, January 8, 2020 – The appointment of the new Croatian ambassador to Serbia can serve as the first test of cooperation between the incumbent government led by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and the newly-elected president Zoran Milanović, the Večernji List daily newspaper said on Wednesday.
Hido Biščević, a journalist and a career diplomat, has already been nominated by PM Plenković for that post and this nomination has been approved by President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović.
However, the whole procedure of Biščević’s appointment as the next Croatian ambassador to Belgrade has not yet been completed. It needs to be also approved by the country-recipient and in this case, Serbia has already shown positive response and also the relevant Croatian parliamentary committee is supposed to interview the nominee.
Upon the completion of the whole procedure, the Croatian president signs the decision on ambassadorial appointments.
It remains to be seen whether the procedure will be finalised until 18 February when Grabar-Kitarović’s term ends.
Besides, decisions to approve appointments of diplomats towards the end of the term of the outgoing presidents may be ethically disputable. The Večernji List said that Grabar-Kitarović would not rush decisions.
The post of the Croatian ambassador in Belgrade is currently vacant after Ambassador Gordan Bakota was sent to his new ambassadorial duty to Germany.
More news about relations between Croatia and Serbia can be found in the Politics section.
