Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and her Croatian counterpart Andrej Plenkovic held talks Friday in the Serbian city of Subotica where they attended the opening of the Croatian House.

The bilateral meeting was followed by a meeting of representatives of the governments of Serbia and Croatia.

Brnabic said she believes relations with Croatia are very important and that she is truly interested in developing relations and advancing cooperation.

“This Plenkovic’s visit today and my recent visit to Zagreb are very important and give a positive impulse to forming much better relations in the future,” Brnabic said at the opening of the Croatian House.

She assessed that intensifying meetings and visits is very important for further discussions and for getting closer to solving the outstanding issues between the two countries.

“Serbia and Croatia share a great deal, we have a lot in common, both good and bad unfortunately, and it is no secret that we are burdened by the grave consequences of our common history, which has frequently led to the cooling of relations,” said Brnabic, adding that this cooling of relations always first affects the members of minority national communities, Serbs in Croatia and Croats in Serbia.

The Croatian House was opened in Subotica, which will house three Croatian community institutions – the Croatian National Council, the Vojvodina Croats Cultural Institute and the Hrvatska Rijec newspaper publisher.

“The Croatian House will not only serve as a center for the promotion of Croatian culture and art, but will also be a meeting place for people from both countries. Today we clearly show that we are ready to build and strengthen our relations, to invest in a common future and to respect and appreciate our common heritage,” said the Serbian Prime Minister.

Prior to his meeting with Brnabic, Plenkovic had a working meeting at the Croatian House with the president of the Croatian National Council in Serbia, Jasna Vojnic, with Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina leader Tomislav Zigmanov and other representatives of the Croatian minority in Serbia.

“In a strong partnership we are realizing numerous projects that contribute to a better position of the Croats in Serbia,” Plenkovic tweeted following the meeting.

This is Plenkovic’s first visit to Serbia since he became Prime Minister in 2016.

He said Croatia-Serbia relations were burdened “by residual issues from the time of the Milosevic regime’s aggression on Croatia” that were still open.

Plenkovic said he and Brnabic also talked about improving transport connectivity and steps forward regarding Southeast Europe’s stability.

Croatia is looking with optimism on the European path of its neighbours, including Serbia, he said.