Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic met separately with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Teodora Genchovska during her visit to Zagreb on Thursday.

Genchovska, a historian, military academy graduate and expert on security and defence issues, and Plenkovic discussed the situation in Ukraine, emphasising that the two countries shared views on the war in Ukraine and the need to continue providing assistance to that country, according to a government press release.

Plenkovic informed Genchovska about Croatia’s final preparations for accession to the Schengen area and euro area, as well as about its bid to join the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which is the objective of both countries.

The two officials also exchanged views on EU enlargement and the situation in southeastern Europe.

The situation in the Western Balkans was also discussed during Genchovska’s meeting with Parliament Speaker Jandrokovic. They agreed that it was of critical importance to prevent a spillover of the Ukraine crisis to the region.

According to a press release from Parliament, Jandrokovic emphasised the importance of the equality of all three constituent nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Jandrokovic and Genchovska strongly condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and expressed solidarity with the Ukrainian people. They also discussed humanitarian and technical assistance to Ukraine and the acceptance of refugees.