Croatian President Ivo Josipovic was named in Salzburg on Saturday "protector" of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, a title awarded by this reputable scientific institution to politicians who support the European idea and cooperation within the old continent.
Josipovic is the first Croatian president to receive this recognition awarded by the Academy which was founded in 1990 and which has 1,500 members, scientists and researchers, philosophers and artists from around the globe, including 28 Nobel Prize winners and the outgoing pope Benedict XVI.
"This is a great recognition to me personally and the confirmation of all efforts Croatia has made since it gained independence," Josipovic said at the plenary session of the Academy.
"Europe is at the crossroads and it is shaken by a severe economic crisis which is why it is necessary now more than ever to defend European values, solidarity, freedom and humaneness," Josipovic said in his speech at the Academy.
Slovenian President Borut Pahor and Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin were also named the protectors of the Academy.
Later today, Josipovic and Pahor are scheduled to meet and discuss the ratification of Croatia's Treaty of Accession with the European Union in Slovenia, the only EU member that has not yet launched the ratification process.
Josipovic said on Friday that the purpose of his meeting with Pahor was not to discuss the issue of the now defunct Ljubljanska Banka, but to create good climate in Croatia-Slovenia relations in which this problem could be resolved more easily.
