President’s Milanović and Mattarella discuss bilateral relations

According to the State Statistics Bureau, Italy is Croatia's second largest foreign trade partner. In 2024 total trade between the two countries amounted to €8.41 billion. Croatian exports to Italy last year came in at €2.74 billion, while imports from Italy totaled €5.67 billion.

At the invitation of the President Zoran Milanović, Italian President Sergio Mattarella arrived in Zagreb today for an official visit. During their talks the two presidents discussed bilateral relations between the two countries, the situation in Southeast Europe and global issues. Speaking to reporters after their meeting President Milanović placed a special emphasis on the two countries relations, which have not always been easy: “In the spirit of cooperation and the high quality relations that Croatia and Italy have enjoyed for years now, it is worth noting that we have had a complex history through the centuries, intertwined, antagonized, and all manner of thing. We could say that in our example, the relations between Croatia's modern politics and contemporary Italy, the European Union was truly a concrete peace project. Given that everything within the boundaries of the possible has happened between Croatia and Italy, as two nations, geographical areas and cultures, cooperating, antagonizing, and coming together again, I think we can be happy and content with the last twenty years.”

For his part, President Mattarella noted that institutional, economic and cultural ties played a key role in maintaining the two countries friendly relations: “Our cooperation is conducted through our frequent meetings between the representatives of our respective governments, and through well-established formats such as the Council of Ministers, which meets every two years. There are also the trilateral meetings between Croatia, Slovenia and Italy. Furthermore, we a connected through many forms of economic and cultural cooperation. President Milanović and I also discussed just how valuable minorities are in our cooperation. They are a bridge and a guarantee of our friendship and cooperation. They stimulate even broader cooperation between Croatia and Italy.”

Mattarella visited Croatia in 2015 during his first term, as did Milanović on an official visit to Italy during his first term in 2021.

During his official stay in Zagreb, President Mattarella also met with the Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament Gordan Jandroković. The Italian leader also visited the Homeland Memorial to pay his respects to the victims of the Serbian aggression and met with representatives of the Italian minority in Croatia.

Source: HRT