President of Croatia, Zoran Milanovic, will on Monday travel to Austria on his second foreign visit since taking office in February, having met with Slovenian President Borut Pahor last week. N1's Hrvoje Kresic spoke to Austrian MP and member of the committee of foreign affairs, Martin Engelberg, on the relations between Austria and Croatia.

During the presidential campaign in late 2019, Milanovic announced that, as president, he would work to strengthen ties with Slovenia and Austria, through the Alpe-Adria initiative.

“It’s great to hear that he (Milanovic) sees Austria as an important partner, and I can only assure you that this is the same on our side; Croatia is really a very important partner for Austria,” Engelberg said, adding there was, however room for improvement.

“I think we should work on it. I can only assure you that it is very welcome from the Austrian side,” he said.

Just recently, Engelberg said, a Croatian diplomat told him that the country was worried about brain drain of young professionals who come to work and live in Austria.

“They are very welcome here… we love to have them here and we hope that Croatians are not too worried about the exchange,” he said.

Engelberg also discussed the 2021-27 EU budget, the rise of populism and the relations between the EU and United States under the Trump administration.

Watch the full interview below: