President Milanović Endorses Proposal to invite Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Kosovo to a meeting with NATO Members of Southeast Europe

“We had a very high-quality and meaningful conversation today, which is not usually the case at real NATO Summits. This is a new quality of discourse regarding relations between states and peoples. In diplomacy, there are never enough such conversations,” the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović said in Skopje after participating in an informal meeting of the Heads of State and Government of NATO Members from Southeast Europe. The meeting was also attended by Prime Minister Dimitar Kovačevski of the Republic of North Macedonia, Prime Minister Edi Rama of the Republic of Albania, Prime Minister Milojko Spajić of Montenegro and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

The President of the Republic emphasized the particular value of the proposal put forth by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama during the meeting. He suggested considering the possibility of organizing a forum in which not only NATO Member States from Southeast Europe but also non-members Serbia, Kosovo, and Bosnia and Herzegovina would participate. “I consider it a smart and welcome proposal, regardless of the fact that we have a number of initiatives in various forums and organizations that intertwine and even cancel each other out. I believe that the proposal deserves the attention of NATO and the Secretary General, who will decide whether it is possible and feasible. In a way, it is a step further from the Brdo-Brijuni initiative, which has existed for 10 years and which shows that such a conversation is indeed possible and that it is good. For me, that is the main conclusion of this meeting,” said President Milanović, asking the Secretary General “to think about it because it can certainly be useful.”

Commenting on the functioning of the security system, President Milanović said: “Within the framework of the Croatian constitutional order and constitutional practice, the cooperation of the defense and security system is crucial for the proper functioning of the system, and the cooperation of the President of the Republic as the commander-in-chief and the Prime Minister as the de facto chancellor is crucial. Everything else can only help.”

PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Dario Andrišek