Croatian President Ivo Josipovic said on Monday that relations between the countries of Southeast Europe should be based on partnership rather than on leadership.
"I think that leadership is a wrong approach and that today we should speak more about partnership. Our two countries are independent, they have their own policies, and it's very hard to imagine either of them dictating to each other, from the position of a leader, this or that model of behaviour," Josipovic said in an interview with Serbian state television at the end of his two-day official visit to Belgrade.
Josipovic said that he and Serbian President Boris Tadic were creating a good climate through talks with all regional leaders, and added that the current progress in relations between Croatia and Serbia was only an introduction to dealing with serious problems.
"I am aware that these initial impulses, which are having a really good response in the media, are only a beginning. We are facing a large number of very serious problems and a good climate will help resolve them. It is important that our governments follow this cooperation," the Croatian president said.
Speaking of the political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Josipovic reiterated that the future of that country was first and foremost in the hands of its three constituent peoples, stressing that there was no solution that could be imposed.
"If there is no goodwill and cooperation between the three peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina, then all the goodwill on our part -- and I can feel it in President Tadic and it absolutely exists in Croatia -- won't help," he said.
Josipovic said that Bosnia and Herzegovina was "at a crossroads" now, adding that its politicians would have to decide whether they wanted a functioning Bosnia and Herzegovina, consisting of ethnic groups and individuals with equal rights, or further rivalries which were not producing any good results.
"It's down to us to help our neighbours do their best," Josipovic said when speaking of how Croatia and Serbia should treat Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Josipovic concluded his visit by taking a stroll through central Belgrade with Tadic and by attending a meeting of artists from Croatia and Serbia in the city's Kalemegdan Park.
