Croatian president in ‘historic’ visit to the island

President Nicos Anastasiades hailed his Croatian counterpart’s “historic” visit to Cyprus – the first ever by a Croatian prime minister – on Tuesday night as the two nations also close in on 30 years of diplomatic relations.

Croatia’s Andrej Plencovic was welcomed at the presidential palace in the capital where he spoke of the shared vision of Cyprus and Croatia, but also of a similar suffering.

“Our principled position is respect for your sovereignty and for your territorial integrity,” he said, adding that Croatia also had its territories occupied in the ’90s, therefore “we understand the pain and difficult moments that you are going through.”

“Your situation is lasting for much longer unfortunately,” Plencovic added.