Aleksandar Vucic meeting Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic on bridge on Croatian-Serbian border in June 2016. Photo: Beta

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic confirmed on Wednesday that he had accepted Tuesday’s invitation from Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic to visit Zagreb.

“I consider it is important for our country to receive this invitation; we accept that invitation, it [meeting] will be held on February 12th and 13th; I will talk to all Croatian officials,” Vucic said.

“The talks will not be easy or pleasant, but I am convinced that it will be useful for both Croatia and Serbia,” he concluded.

The invitation comes amid a new spat between the two states over an international exhibition in Jasenovac, site of an infamous concentration camp during World War II run by Croatian fascists in which many Serbs perished.

Yhe US Embassy in Zagreb welcomed the visit on its official Twitter account.

Vucic first planned a trip to Zagreb at the end of 2017, but indefinitely postponed it in October, owing to worsening relations.

The announced meeting in February will be the first official meeting of the Serbian and Croatian presidents since 2013, when Serbia’s then President, Tomislav Nikolic, met Croatia’s Ivo Josipovic in Belgrade.