ZAGREB, February 14, 2018 – Southeast Europe rests on the peace between the Croat and Serb peoples and nothing is more important than that, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said in Zagreb on Tuesday, adding that he believed in the two peoples having a future together, while Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović said that a lasting and open dialogue between the two countries was of the utmost importance and that it was a path into the future.
“This region rests on the peace between the Serb and Croat peoples and no relationship is more important. That’s why the Republic of Serbia will make every effort to keep the peace with Croatia, with the Croat people, so that we invest in stability, but also to preserve our identity,” Vučić said at an assembly of the Serb National Council (SNV). He reiterated that he would soon invite Grabar-Kitarović to Serbia. “She will be able to show the Croatian public and people the results of her invitation to me, all that has been done for the Croat community in Serbia.”
“We will see to it that they get the language instruction office they have asked for, that they have their representatives in municipalities and provincial administration as well as bigger representation in Belgrade, in the government and everywhere. We won’t hide that from the Serbian public. Their better life will mean better security for all of you here in Croatia,” Vučić said.
“I promise that we in Serbia will hear the voice of both Croats and Croatia, and we will do our best to understand their needs and wishes, but we will see to it that, as much as we can… we help Serbs in Croatia and elsewhere so that they preserve their identity, language and Cyrillic script,” he added.
In her address, Grabar-Kitarović said Vučić ‘s visit was “an expression of our joint belief that, despite the many differences that can burden us, we have the duty to lay down the foundations for a lasting dialogue and cooperation which occasional excesses and incidents won’t be able to disrupt.”
That is primarily in the interest of bilateral relations, but also in the interest of successful political and economic processes in Southeast Europe as a region of peace, stability, cooperation and development, she said. “I want to believe that in these few days we have strengthened the foundations for achieving that goal. Future days, I hope, will show the concrete and measurable results of that, to the benefit of both Croats and Serbs, to the benefit of the states of Serbia and Croatia.”
She recalled that since gaining independence Croatia had, with special laws and in many practical ways, worked on the advancement of the rights and living conditions of the Serb minority, notably returnees.
“Our task is to make that fact increasingly visible in everyday life. As a Croat and Croatia’s president, I want the same for Croats in Serbia. A lasting and open dialogue between Croatia and Serbia is therefore of the utmost importance. That’s the path into the future we wish our countries and peoples and, as such, the best obstacle to a repetition of the tragedies which cost our two peoples so dearly,” Grabar-Kitarović said.
