Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic met on Tuesday in Zagreb with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, in the first official visit of an Israeli president to Croatia.

“Israel has a friend and a partner in Croatia, in EU as well as in NATO and other organisations,” Grabar-Kitarovic said, adding that Croatia’s decision to buy Israeli F-16 fighter aircraft was a step forward in strengthening ties between Israel and Croatia.

Croatian government in April approved the purchase of 12 F-16 fighter jets in a deal worth €420 million.

Israeli President Rivlin said he was looking forward to the future, but that it was also important to learn from the past, which was not always easy.

“Even today we must face together the threats of hatred and terror. We must work to keep our people safe,” Rivlin said, adding that their cooperation is important to protect shared values.

Grabar-Kitarovic said that modern-day Croatia was founded on tenets of anti-fascism, and announced that the two presidents would visit the Jasenovac memorial centre in eastern Croatia, the site of one of the largest World War II concentration camps in this part of Europe, established in 1941 by the pro-Nazi Ustasha regime.

Later in the day, President Rivlin will lay a wreath in front of the Voice of Croatian Victims – Wall of Pain Memorial at Mirogoj Cemetery, and will meet with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.

On the second day of his visit, Grabar-Kitarovic and Rivlin will attend a meeting between representatives of Croatia’s Defence Ministry and Israeli’s military industry, and address a defence industry conference between the two countries.

President Rivlin is also scheduled to meet with Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic.

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