President Milanović Meets with President of Slovenia Nataša Pirc Musar: We must bring relations in the region into calmer waters and continue the Brdo-Brijuni Process
“The conversation with the President of Slovenia was pleasant, friendly and substantive, a prelude to a series of such talks. The topics primarily dealt with our mutual relations,” the President of the Republic of Croatia Zoran Milanović said on Wednesday after holding his first meeting with the President of the Republic of Slovenia Nataša Pirc Musar, who is on a working visit to Croatia.
The Croatian President said that apart from Croatia-Slovenia relations, they also discussed the situation in the region and the future of the Brdo-Brijuni Initiative, which was launched during the term of former Croatian President Ivo Josipović at the initiative of former Slovenian President Borut Pahor.
“The intentions in view of this Initiative are the same, namely the integration and well-being of the countries of this area, the Western Balkans. We need to bring some things into a bit calmer waters in order for the Initiative to continue. If you ask me, it is possible, but those who are participating need to be asked as well,” said President Milanović, explaining that the holding of future Brdo-Brijuni Process meetings depends on the will of other participants of the Initiative.
Likewise, the Croatian President welcomes the proposal to hold the next meeting of the Brdo-Brijuni Process in North Macedonia. “I think this is a job that the President of Slovenia could perhaps do better than me in the months ahead – to see what people think, to prepare the meeting so it does not end in a quarrel of out-of-tune instruments like on the last two occasions when we had neither a joint statement nor a declaration,” he added.
In a statement after the meeting with the Slovenian President, President Milanović assessed that the good cooperation between Croatia and Slovenia can intensify even more than in the last two years. “I think that relations are better than they were three or four years ago, especially with Croatia’s entry into Schengen. I would like to once again thank Slovenia for its support, and the President of Slovenia for taking the time to come to Bregana on the 1st of January this year to jointly mark an important and useful event for both Croatia and Slovenia,” said the Croatian President.
After her meeting with President Milanović, the President of the Republic of Slovenia Nataša Pirc Musar said they are both aware of several unresolved issues, but expressed her view that Croatia and Slovenia will be able to resolve issues in the future.
She emphasized that she is committed to continuing the Brdo-Brijuni Process because she wants Slovenia and Croatia, as the countries that have achieved the most in this area in the region, to engage in dialogue with other countries in the region. “Slovenia has shown that it can play a significant role in bringing Bosnia and Herzegovina and other countries in the Western Balkans closer to the European Union. Croatia has the same standing here,” said the Slovenian President, who thanked President Milanović for continuing to work together on the Initiative, a joint endeavour of Slovenia and Croatia.
As for the holding of the next meeting of the Brdo-Brijuni Process, she stated that President Stevo Pendarovski offered to host it in North Macedonia. “At that meeting, which will take place at the end of this year, I would like to open topics that are not so political and ideological. I told President Milanović what my silent wish is – more emphasis on young people, because young people are the ones who are leaving this region in huge numbers. The mission of the President and me personally as President is to see what else we can do to make people in this region better off. And politics sometimes has to take a step back, devote itself less to ideological topics and realize that the platform that will be able to create some other content in the process is in young people. I believe in the rule of law and I think that the rule of law is extremely important, not only at the national level but also in international relations. Thank you again for a very pleasant reception,” the President of the Republic of Slovenia concluded.
Responding to a journalist’s question on whether they had discussed the war in Ukraine, President Milanović said they did not. “We didn’t talk about Ukraine, which doesn’t mean we won’t,” he said.
When asked about his recent statement that Kosovo was “taken from Serbia,” President Milanović said that he could have stated that Serbia was left without Kosovo. “I don’t think I have to assure anyone of my attachment and affection toward the Kosovo Albanians. In the meantime, Kosovo has been recognized, Croatia was among the first to recognize it, and I use the opportunity where I can to convince people and … statesmen to recognize Kosovo if they have not done so,” he said among other things.
“In order for Serbia to come to the West, where it is welcome, some things must change. The situation in Ukraine is the beginning of the end of the apparent Serbian-Russian romance in which Serbia will realize it is a cheated lover. Serbia and Kosovo bother Russia. Russia will have to recognise Kosovo sooner or later or pretend that it recognises it in order to legalise what it’s doing in Ukraine. And where is Serbia in this? They must realize that they are bothering Russia and that there is no love there, but exclusively the relationship of interests, where they served Russia in one period as it implemented some of its plans that are against international law,” President Milanović clarified, adding that Serbia will have to recognize Kosovo in some way and that Kosovar authorities will have to give a status to the Community of Serb Municipalities in northern Kosovo. “Therefore, my message to the tabloids in Serbia is: Curb your enthusiasm,” President Milanović concluded.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Ana Marija Katić, Filip Glas