Serbian PM Going to Zagreb For Inauguration

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic confirmed on Thursday that he will attend the inauguration of the new Croatian President, Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic.

Grabar Kitarovic won the presidential elections in January, narrowly defeating the incumbent, Ivo Josipovic, in the second round.

At a press conference in Belgrade, Vucic said he would "carry to Zagreb a message of peace and cooperation.

"We want to improve relations. We strive to improve relations in the region, which will benefit both our people and the Croatian people and I think this is good and important news," he said.

Vucic said he aimed to show the world that Serbia is "a normal and decent country" and that he sees regional stability as more important than personal and political vanity.

The decision is newsworthy, given the poor relations between Croatia and Serbia and the assumption - until recently - that neither the President nor the Prime Minister would be joning other heads of state from the region at the ceremony in Zagreb.

The Serbian daily Blic on Wednesday broke the story that Vucic would be attending the inauguration on Sunday.

Vucic will use the trip to meet members of the Serbian community in Croatia, including the Croatian Serb leader, Milorad Pupovac, and new Serbian Orthodox Metropolitan of Zagreb, Porfirije Peric.

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic earlier this week said that he would not attend the inauguration because it coincided with Serbian statehood day, also on Sunday.

It will be the first time that a Serbian Prime Minister has ever attended the inauguration of a Croatian President.

However, Serbia's former president, Boris Tadic, attended the inauguration of the former Croatian president, Stjepan Mesic...