The meeting with Hillary Clinton is an opportunity for us to prove that we are a serious country and a serious partner to the United States, the Croatian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Vesna Pusic, told Croatian reporters in Washington on Tuesday ahead of her meeting with the US Secretary of State on Wednesday.
She said that this particularly concerned Bosnia and Herzegovina and the entire Western Balkans region where the US administration regards Croatia as a potential partner, because it has the experience in state building that is applicable to the other countries in the region.
When asked if she would lobby for the outcome of the appeal proceedings in the case of Croatian generals on trial before the Hague war crimes tribunal, which might affect NATO-led peacekeeping missions, Pusic said that this topic was not relevant to the US and that Croatia wanted the case to be conducted in accordance with law and not political preferences, stressing that "any kind of politicisation is in no one's interest."
On the first day of her two-day working visit, Pusic met with members of the Croatian congressional caucus. She said that Congressmen Elton Gallegly, Dennis Kucinich and Mark Begic promised their assistance in lifting visa requirements for Croatian citizens travelling to the US, adding that the problem was a high rate of rejected applications, of 6.3 per cent as against the allowed 3 per cent.
The meeting on Capitol Hill was also attended by representatives of the Croatian American community. Pusic said that Croatia intended to ensure a favourable investment environment for all, including Croatian emigrants.
