Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman told Croats in Montenegro on Saturday it was important that they stay united in order to preserve the Croatian identity and so that they stay in their centuries-old homes.

As part of a two-day visit to Montenegro, today he met with Croatian representatives in Tivat, the minister without a portfolio and president of the Croatian Civic Initiative party, Adrian Vuksanovic, and the president of the Croatian National Council, Zvonimir Dekovic.

“We support Croats in Montenegro,” Grlic-Radman said. “Now, when we have built the conditions to have Montenegro as a NATO member state and a future European Union member state, it’s important to support Croats so that they feel safe, so that they have the same rights as all Montenegrin citizens, and they are this country’s loyal citizens.”

Croats in the Bay of Kotor and the rest of Montenegro will certainly soon have the same rights they have elsewhere in the world, he added.

In Kotor on Friday, Grlic met with local bishop Ivan Štironja for talks on problems with the restitution of Church assets.

That Church treasure is part of Croatia’s Christian identity, the minister said, adding that he will discuss the problem with Holy See Secretary for Relations with States Paul Gallagher in the Vatican next month.

“I discussed the problem yesterday with Montenegrin Foreign Minister Ranko Krivokapic, saying that it would be good to work on it and that we should feel stronger support from the Montenegrin government for the restitution of seized Church assets,” he added.