Zagreb - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković and Italian President Sergio Mattarella met in Zagreb on Monday, underlining the importance of good neighbourly relations, particularly between countries that share similar values and positions.
Croatia and Italy maintain excellent and friendly relations, which have intensified in recent years. The two countries cooperate successfully as partners in the EU, NATO and other international organisations and regional initiatives, Jandroković and Mattarella said.
"They stressed the importance of good neighbourly cooperation, especially when countries share similar values, challenges and perspectives, as is the case with Croatia and Italy,".
The two officials also discussed the situation in Ukraine, the Middle East crisis, the situation in the Western Balkans and the enlargement of the European Union. They concluded that Croatia and Italy have "very similar, almost identical positions on the key foreign policy challenges of our time".
Jandroković and Mattarella expressed satisfaction with the strengthening of parliamentary ties between the two countries, highlighting in particular the recent visit of a delegation from the Croatian Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee to Italy and the visit of a delegation from the Italian-Croatian Friendship Group to Zagreb in September last year.
Mattarella was on an official visit to Croatia on Monday. He was earlier received by President Zoran Milanović and is also scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.
Mattarella previously visited Croatia in 2015 during his first term in office.
According to data from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, Italy is Croatia's second-largest foreign trade partner. In 2024, the total value of goods exchanged between the two countries amounted to €8.41 billion, with Croatian exports to Italy reaching €2.74 billion and imports from Italy totalling €5.67 billion.