The President-elect of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der Leyen, will pay an official visit to Zagreb next week, sources at the Ec and the Croatian government confirmed to N1 on Tuesday.

After her bid to become EU’s top executive was confirmed by the European Parliament earlier this month, Von der Leyen – who previously served as Germany’s defence minister – told Croatian reporters she had plans to visit all parts of the bloc.

Von der Leyen will replace Luxembourg’s Jean-Claude Juncker on November 1, when her five-year term at the helm of the Brussels-based European Commission will formally begin.

One of the smallest countries of the bloc, Croatia was the most recent country which joined the EU, in July 2013, and is set to take over the rotating six-month Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2020.

According to sources, this is why Zagreb was picked as one of the first stops on her tour, along with Paris and Warsaw, in line with her messages that she would work to bridge the differences between western and eastern EU countries, as well as that there are no “small” or “large” EU countries in terms of their importance.

Although the exact date of her visit has not been released to the press yet, Von der Leyen is expected to meet with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic in Zagreb, to discuss issues that would be the focus of Croatia’s upcoming six-month presidency.