President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović has been criticized for her attempts to get close to US President Donald Trump at a recent NATO summit.
Reporting from a recent NATO summit in Brussels, the Croatian media questioned the behavior of President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, who was seen strategically maneuvering among leaders trying to position herself as close to US President Donald Trump as possible. Many criticized her for appearing to behave in a manner unbecoming of a head of state, she also came under fire for her statements that she had substantive discussions with Trump, reports Index.hr on June 17, 2017.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRkypTHlkCo
In a recent interview, the President was asked to comment on the criticism. She first said she was proud that she was the reason why President Trump would attend the summit of the Three Seas Initiative in Warsaw in early July. President Grabar-Kitarović is one of the proponents of the initiative.
“We did not try to get close to Trump forcibly; he actually invited us to get closer to him,” said the President in the interview.
She stated that they talked a lot about bilateral issues, especially when Polish President Andrzej Duda was introduced to Trump, adding that the whole meeting actually lasted for several hours.
“Of course, I wanted to get in front to the first row because I do not want Croatia to be on the margins. I want us to become the leaders of certain processes. That same evening, the speech I gave within the same framework was very well accepted, as well as noticed. I am surprised by the attitudes of the media about my pushing into the first row: that is my job,” said President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović.
