Croatia offers Ukraine its experience in the peaceful reintegration of occupied areas and also assistance in removal of land mines, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Monday after meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal in Kiev.

Croatia entirely supports Ukraine’s territorial integrity and it possesses specific skills that can help this eastern European country to peacefully reintegrate its occupied areas, Plenkovic said.

Recalling the developments in the 1990s, Plenkovic emphasised the fact that Croatia’s peaceful reintegration of its Danube region “has been one of the most successful UN-run operations ever, particularly on European soil.”

He added that Croatia is already helping Ukraine with its experience in addressing the issues and needs of war veterans, and pledged support of Zagreb to Ukrainian efforts to remove landmines. We have companies specialised in de-mining and we are willing to make our assistance available to Ukrainian authorities, he said.

Plenkovic arrived in Kiev on Sunday to take part in the inaugural summit of the Crimean Platform, which is taking place on the eve of the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence.

Seven years have passed since the Russian annexation of Crimea. The fighting that ensued between the Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists after the annexation has claimed 13,000 lives.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who announced the launch of the Crimean Platform last year, has recently said that the platform intended to address the issue of the militarisation of that peninsula, the liberation of more than 1000 Ukrainians who are political prisoners, and to consider the status of Crimean Tatars.

The USA and the European Union stand firmly by Ukraine and continue imposing sanctions against Russia. Germany and France are mediators within the so-called Normandy Format talks.

Ukraine’s Shmyhal thanked Plenkovic for all his support to Ukraine on its journey to Europe.

Croatia is an advocate of Ukraine’s European journey, and helps Kiev in the implementation of the Europe-bound reforms and in the processes envisaged by the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, he added.

Plenkovic underscored that it was important that targets set out in the EU climate policy and energy policy be a part of the implementation of the association agreement.

Shmyhal also invited Plenkovic to pay a bilateral visit to Ukraine this autumn.

Plenkovic thanked Ukraine for its assistance in the aftermath of the devastating quakes that hit Croatia in 2020 and in the evacuation of Croatian nationals from Afghanistan.