Grabar-Kitarovic: I will be the first one to welcome Serbia!

Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic said that today's world needs more, not less, NATO-s, and said that she will be the first person to welcome Serbia if they join NATO.

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She added that she believes it will happen and the policy of open doors should be accelerated for the new members, reports Hina.

- Montenegro will become new member in a few months, but what about Macedonia? Controversy about the name  can't be more important than the safety situation - said Grabar-Kitanovic.

She pointed that she things that newly elected United States president Donald Trump will continue the cooperation with North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

She marked on the session of NATO withing the International Safety forum in Canadian city Halifax that Trump, after inauguration and meeting with the information, international commitments USA has with NATO and the facts that today's situation in the world demands North Atlantic cooperation, will leave positive inheritance to the pact.

Foto: Tanjug/Tanja Valič

- I believe that in the future we will find joined language, but i am in accordance with the fact that we should fulfill our obligations, starting from my country Croatia - said Grabar-Kitarovic alluding on Trump's statements during his presidential campaign where he questioned the principles of NATO's foundations and he called upon the allies to make more contribution into the pact - reports Hina.

She added that she attended the last NATO summit in Warsaw, and she said that, she has seen that Croatia is one of the rare countries that hasn't increased the the budget for defense.

- For me it is not the expenses, but investments, about fulfilling international obligations - said Grabar-Kitarovic and expressed satisfaction that Croatia seriously approaches its international obligations and the new concept of national security.

Speaking about the "Russian threat", she said that the country won't be "scared with billions of dollars of investments" in defense but they need "solidarity" and "faster and more agile reactions to Russian operations".

- The mistake that we made with Krim and Ukraine was that we were too slow in our response - considers Grabar-Kitarovic and said that "Russia is not the meaning of life, the enemy or NATO's rival" but the one that we should cooperate with.

(Telegraf.co.uk / Tanjug)