There were times when Croatian officials did not stand in front of fences of US government buildings.
In light of the current controversy about the recent visit to the United States by Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, it is interesting to see how other senior Croatian officials were received by the American government in the past, reports Index.hr on January 9, 2017.
One such email was recently disclosed by WikiLeaks, as part of numerous e-mails sent and received by then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton which were released to the public.
Among the most interesting e-mails relating to Croatia is one which mentions former Croatian Prime Minister and HDZ president Jadranka Kosor, who visited Washington in May 2010.
At the time, head of protocol of the United States sent an e-mail to an adviser to Hillary Clinton asking about a possible meeting.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton then approved a meeting between Prime Minister Kosor and US Defence Secretary Robert Gates.
“The Prime Minister of Croatia will arrive to Washington DC on the 24th until the evening of the 26th. She will unfortunately miss Secretary Clinton, but hopes that her office could please assist with a request to see Secretary Gates. He is in town but his office has told the embassy that Secretary Clinton must sign off on it. Can you assist me with this”, wrote in an e-mail Capricia Penavic Marshall, head of Protocol of the United States from 2009 to 2013.
At her request, Jacob J. Sullivan, an advisor to Hillary Clinton, sent an e-mail directly to Hillary Clinton asking, “Presume you have no issue with this?”
Hillary Clinton replied, “OK with me.”
From the correspondence it is clear that, when then-Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor was visiting the United States, there was no problem in organizing a meeting with the US administration at the highest level. It is not clear why the recent visit of current President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović to Washington was shrouded in such secrecy, with the President giving statements to the press standing in front of the White House fence and on streets of Washington.
