ZAGREB – Croatian President Zoran Milanović has cancelled this year’s Brdo-Brijuni Summit, which was scheduled to take place in May in Croatia. As the reason, he stated that “the arrival of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić in Croatia is not possible”.
“The Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Slovenia, as members of the European Union, initiated the Brdo-Brioni Process with the aim of enhancing mutual cooperation and accelerating the European integration of Southeast European countries. This year’s meeting of heads of state within the Brdo-Brioni Process was scheduled to be held in May in Croatia,” Milanović said.
He assessed that the recent political statements and actions of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić are, as he put it, “in complete contradiction with the objectives of the Brdo-Brioni Process, undermine interstate relations, and threaten peace and stability in Southeast Europe.”
However, Milanović did not specify in what way Vučić had endangered peace and stability.
The Croatian president also said that, under such circumstances, “conditions do not exist and the visit of the President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, to the Republic of Croatia is not possible.”
“The next meeting of heads of state within the Brdo-Brioni Process will be held once conditions are met, following consultations between President Milanović and the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Nataša Pirc-Musar, who serves as co-chair of the Brdo-Brioni Process,” Milanović’s office said.
The Brdo-Brioni Process is an annual multilateral initiative in the Western Balkans, launched by Slovenia and Croatia. Its main focus is advancing the European Union enlargement process in the region. The initiative brings together Slovenia and Croatia, as EU member states, and EU candidate and potential candidate countries from the Western Balkans – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia.
