The Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group with Serbia of the Croatian Parliament - Sabor, headed by the Croatian Parliament Deputy Speaker and Inter-Parliamentary Group President Neven Mimica, is in official visit to the National Assembly on 7 and 8 December at the invitation of the President of the National Assembly’s Parliamentary Friendship Group with Croatia, Dr Janko Veselinovic.

The members of the Croatian Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group with Serbia met with the NARS Parliamentary Friendship Group with Croatia at the National Assembly House on 7 December.

Greeting the Croatian guests, Janko Veselinovic opined that the parliamentary cooperation between the two countries is on the rise, providing the cornerstone of political and any other type of cooperation between Serbia and Croatia. Neven Mimica pointed out that the friendship groups are meeting for the second time this year and that this meeting, like the regular communication in future, should tackle specific subjects and the resolution of open issues. He declared the overall atmosphere in the mutual relations more favourable than ever before, noting the evident strengthening of mutual trust and good-neighbourly relations.

The two countries’ European plans and common priorities on the road to the European Union were the main topic of conversation. They agreed that parliamentarians can significantly contribute to the acceptance of European values and standards, the basis of the well-ordered societies in the EU, and that their role in bringing these facts closer to the citizens is very important.

The Croatian guests shared their experiences on the road to European integration and stressed that the Croatian Sabor has a National Committee as a working body tasked with monitoring the negotiations on Croatia’s EU accession. Janko Veselinovic declared the Croatian experiences, both positive and negative, welcome and added that he expected full cooperation on the road to European integration in the upcoming period.

Neven Mimica stressed that parliamentary diplomacy could further cooperation between Serbia and Croatia in their approach to the EU, adding that the two countries are entering a new stage in their relations – the European partnership stage.

The meeting was attended by Nikola Novakovic, Natasa Micic, Radovan Radovanovic, Petar Kuntic, Branka Karavidic and Dragomir Cimesa, members of the Friendship Group with Croatia.