Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Monday that political dialogue between Zagreb and Belgrade is the only way to solve outstanding issues but that harsh words slow it down, not for days but for years.

“We think dialogue is the only way to move forward,” Plenković told reporters in Okučani, where he attended a ceremony marking the 28th anniversary of Operation Flash, a day after he received for talks Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić.

The Serbian prime minister said last October that Croatia had proven to be an enemy to Serbia and in May that Croatia had been ethnically cleansed.

Plenković stressed that he had “made it very clear” that “any harsh words or incidents slow down our political dialogue, not for a couple of days but for a couple of years.”

Plenković and Brnabić on Sunday discussed the issue of people gone missing in the 1990s war, war crimes prosecution, restitution of cultural goods, border demarcation, transport and economic cooperation, and trade.

Croatia has well-regulated relations with the Serb minority and all other minorities. “The better protection Croatia grants to its minorities, the better the status of the Croat minority in neighbouring countries will be,” he said.

Asked about a possible visit to Belgrade, Plenković said that Croatia had financed the construction of the Croatian House in Subotica and that he would travel there in June and that in that context one would see how to organise bilateral talks with representatives of Serbian authorities.

Asked if he thought that Serbia’s intentions regarding the improvement of bilateral relations were sincere, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković said that Croatia’s status in relation to Serbia was one of a country that had accomplished its strategic goals – EU, NATO and Schengen area membership.

“Whether their intentions are sincere or not is less important. We are achieving our strategic goals and interests. We also care for Croats who live in Serbia. Any dialogue between Zagreb and Belgrade will make their status better. Let’s not waste energy on what is less important. This is about Croatia’s interest to have a stable neighbourhood and pro-European neighbours,” said Jandroković.

He added that Croatia had not forgotten statements from Serbia, reiterating that it was negotiating with Serbia as a country that had accomplished its strategic goals while Serbia “is still far from accomplishing its own.”

Jandroković does not see Serbia joining the EU any time soon because Belgrade “yet has to say that it wants it.”

Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said that Serbia “should actively advocate regional stability and dialogue with its neighbours.”