Croatia’s Outgoing President Says Goodbye to Post with Visit to Slovenia

By , 12 Feb 2020, 14:21 PM Politics
Presidents Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović  and Borut Pahor Presidents Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and Borut Pahor Twitter

Share this:

STA, 12 February 2020 - President Borut Pahor said after Wednesday's farewell meeting with Croatian counterpart Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović in Ljubljana that her picking Slovenia for her last visit had not been a coincidence, since Slovenia and Croatia were neighbouring and friendly countries.

And not only that, "it is also that the two of us personally strived very hard" for the two countries to be on friendly terms, Pahor told the press after the meeting.

This was the 39th meeting of the pair, with Pahor noting that after Croatia's unilateral withdrawal from the border arbitration agreement they agreed to nonetheless continue with dialogue and preserve the bridge between the two nations and countries.

With the exception of arbitration, which is closed in Slovenia's eyes but not in Croatia's even though it is bound by international law, the two countries have resolved all other fields, Pahor believes.

He thanked the Croatian president, who failed to get re-elected for a second term in January, for choosing Slovenia for her final visit.

According to Grabar-Kitarović, Slovenia was a logical choice, since she always highlighted the friendship and ties between the two countries were far stronger than the issues that remained open, in particular those resulting from the dissolution of Yugoslavia.

She took the opportunity to call on the Slovenian authorities to continue talks with the Croatian side to reach bilateral solutions for all open issues.

Grabar-Kitarović agreed that the two presidents' cooperation had been exemplary, even if they feel differently about open issues, especially arbitration.

"But this does not mean we'll say goodbye without talking - on the contrary, it is necessary to discuss problems to solve them," she said.

Photo galleries and videos

This websie uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies.