Serbian Prime Minister Vučić discussed relations between the two countries.
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković has an open invitation to come to Belgrade, as well as Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, said Serbia’s Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić on Friday in Davos, stressing that the talks “are always healing” for relations between countries and for preservation of peace and stability in the region, reports Večernji List on January 20, 2017.
Prime Minister Plenković can come to Belgrade whenever he wants. He is welcome to Belgrade or any other place on the territory of Serbia, just as President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović”, said Vučić to reporters.
He added said that there were a lot of issues to be resolved between Croatia and Serbia, but that “unlike Croatian politicians, I do not want to talk in advance about all the things which Serbia could complain about its neighbours. I want us to discuss it in an open way and to see what we can and what we cannot solve”, he said.
Serbian Prime Minister added that it is up to him to “protect the interests of Serbia, but also at the same time not to jeopardize interests of Croatia, since it is in our common interest to protect peace and stability in the region. Croatia is important for our country, just as Prime Minister Plenković said that Serbia was important for Croatia.” He pointed out that dialogue among countries was always “healing”, because there are no further complications or armed incidents while people talk.
Vučić said that a bilateral meeting with Plenković in Davos had never been planned, which was previously also confirmed by Croatian Prime Minister Plenković. Asked whether such a meeting should take place before the elections in Serbia in March, Vučić said that “the meeting should happen before any elections”. This year, Serbia will hold presidential and possibly parliamentary elections.
Vučić said that he knew that he was extremely unpopular in Croatia, adding that more stories are written about him in Croatian than in Serbian media. “The easiest way to sell newspapers or have a popular TV programme is if you curse Vučić”, he concluded.
Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, who met with Vučić, said that he knew that “the history of the region is difficult, and we think that the future might sometimes also be difficult”, but added that he believed in Vučić and politicians in Croatia to find a right way to solve problems.
