The Heads of Diplomacy of Croatia and Serbia, Goran Grlic Radman and Ivica Dacic agreed on the steps to be taken in preparation for their bilateral meeting, the aim of which is to reduce the differences in views on the past and open issues, as a cooperation that is in the interest of both countries.

Radman Grlic and Dacic met on Saturday in Subotica, as guests of the traditional carnival event "Veliko prela", which the Croats from Bunjevac in Backa have been organizing every January since 1879.
The conversation was a continuation of bilateral meetings after Dacic's visit to Zagreb in early January and the direct meeting between Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on the sidelines of the Davos forum.

Both Grlic Radman and Dacic stressed that the two sides have different views on the past, but said that the expert teams of the two relevant ministries will prepare a platform for their bilateral meeting in the coming months.

The purpose of that meeting is to determine "operationally and concretely" what needs to be done for further development and improvement of relations between Serbia and Croatia, "above all, what would be best for the citizens, states and peoples".

Dacic said that "there are a number of issues" on which Serbia and Croatia do not agree.

"We think that, regardless of the fact that we certainly think differently about some issues from our past, we must look for ways and mechanisms for cooperation", said Dacic, announcing a series of meetings in order to analyze the situation and determine what and how both sides can concretely to do for further development of relations.

Grlic Radman confirmed Dacic's assessment that there are different views, but pointed out that "differences must be reduced if it is in the common interest".

"I believe that after all these meetings we will be able to seriously discuss all topics, not only bilateral ones. It is in the interest of all of us to have peace, stability, security, citizens to be safe, to have an open discussion and to reduce differences", said the Croatian minister.

The head of Croatian diplomacy stated that it is in Croatia's interest to support Serbia on its European path, but that Belgrade must meet the criteria.

"It is in Croatia's interest to support Serbia on its European path, but it is necessary to discuss the criteria that must be met, namely the rule of law, minority rights, missing persons, the prosecution of war crimes," Grlic Radman said. after the meeting with his Serbian colleague Ivica Dacic.

He announced that on Monday the president of the Commission for Missing Persons, Veljko Odalović, will visit Zagreb, where he will meet his colleague in the Croatian Ministry of Defense.
Grlic Radman emphasized that as "politically responsible people" they want to leave as few open questions as possible for future generations.