President Rivlin Meets With President of Croatia
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President Rivlin Meets With President of Croatia

  • 7/23/2015
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    ​(Communicated by the President's Media Adviser)

    President Reuven Rivlin this morning, (Thursday), met at his residence with President of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar Kitarović, who was visiting Israel in order to attend the installation yesterday at Yad Vashem, of the Academy Award given to prominent Croatian film producer, Branko Lustig, for the film Schindler's List.

    President Rivlin began by warmly welcoming the Croatian President, and said, "I would like to welcome you Madam President to Jerusalem the capital city of Israel. I know that you came here on a very special occasion, the installation at Yad Vashem of the Academy Award for the film Schindler's List. I would like to stress that the State of Israel is not compensation for the Holocaust, Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people and we have returned back to our homeland in order to establish the State of Israel."
     
    President Rivlin went on to speak of the existential threat Israel faced from Iran. He said, "Iran threatens Israel, not only through its nuclear program, but by supporting and standing behind terrorist organizations across the region; whether in Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, or the Sinai Peninsula."
     
    He concluded by noting that President Grabar Kitarović was a true friend of Israel, "You are a great friend of Israel. We hope that the good relationship between our two countries will grow from strength to strength."
     
    President Grabar Kitarović expressed her hope that Israel would soon succeed in reaching a peaceful solution to the conflict, and spoke of the danger of the rise of totalitarianism in the Middle East.  She said, "We had a very solemn ceremony yesterday at Yad Vashem honoring the victims of the Holocaust, at which I took the opportunity to emphasize how important it is for all of us to carry the message of peace and tolerance, and to condemn all totalitarian regimes. I used to live in one, I have seen the face of war in Croatia, and I know what it means to live in peace and security, and from the bottom of my heart, I wish you and the people of the State of Israel, peace and security."
     
    She spoke of her support for international efforts to find a solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, "Croatia supports the efforts of the international community to help foster peace and security, but of course the outcome and the solutions depend upon the will of both of the Palestinian and Israeli people. I hope we will be looking at the prospects of durable solution in the near future. Croatia supports a two state solution, meaning peace and security for Israel which it must have, and good living conditions and a state for the Palestinian people."
     
    President Grabar Kitarović concluded, "We follow very closely the situation in the Middle East, and we are of course very concerned especially with the new security threats that have arisen along the Mediterranean's shores, in the Middle East and North Africa region. Therefore we would like to expand and deepen the corporation and friendship between our two countries and peoples - in the fields of economy, culture, and education, but also of course in terms of our security and defense cooperation. We are facing the same threats and it is our responsibility to deal together with the joint threats to our security."