Both sides say that the two countries should have better relations.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said, after a meeting with his Croatian counterpart Kolinda Grabar Kitarović, that he believed the relations between the two countries and the two peoples could be improved by the end of the year, reports Večernji List on June 24, 2017.

In a statement to reporters, Vučić said that he spoke with Grabar Kitarović about specific problems and was very pleased with the meeting. He added that talks with the Croatian President would be resumed soon in Dubrovnik, where the traditional Dubrovnik Forum will be held on 1 July.

“We should not rush. It is not easy, we have a lot of issues which burden our relations, but I believe that in the next six months, or by the end of the year, we can achieve more significant results. That would be good news for Serbs in Croatia and Croats in Serbia, as well as for the improvement in bilateral relations between Serbia and Croatia, and between Serbs and Croats in general”, said Vučić.

Kolinda Grabar Kitarović stated that it was about time for Serbia and Croatia to make a positive step forward in their mutual relations so they can address numerous open bilateral issues, including collective security and other challenges. President Grabar-Kitarovic said on the eve of the meeting with Vučić that it was essential for the two countries to be pragmatic in their relations. She visited Belgrade in order to attend Vučić’s official inauguration.

“Serbia and Croatia do not have to be friends, but there are some issues in which we need to work together. When it comes to our relationships, I will repeat what I said in Vukovar – we do not need to pretend to be friends because a lot of time will have to pass before we become friendly states. However, we need to be pragmatic,” said the Croatian President.

“This is an opportunity to make this step forward – not just to improve relations in the south-east Europe. We have to solve all that is painful – from humanitarian issues to the issues of missing persons, archives, so the so-called universal jurisdiction for war crimes. We need to look into the present and the future pragmatically,” said Grabar Kitarović.

Croatian President said earlier that she would discuss with Vučić how far has the process of implementing the Subotica Declaration progressed. “There are positive steps regarding infrastructure, but some projects of functional nature need to be constructed”, said Grabar Kitarović, pointing out that they would discuss the status of Croats in Serbia. “When it comes to the position of the Croatian minority, there is still no respect for the fundamental right of the Croatian minority to have one guaranteed representative in the Serbian parliament and guaranteed representatives at the lower levels,” said the President.