"With all due respect, we don't tell anyone when to have their holidays and mourning and nobody will tell us when to have ours," Milanovic said.
Asked to comment on speculations according to which Slovenia will block Croatia's path to the Schengen area because Croatia had pulled out of the border arbitration process, Milanovic said: "By entering the Schengen area we are doing them a favour, we will protect the external border, this time not from the Ottoman Turks, but if this is not in their interest, then it is not in ours either."
Although the PM declined to comment on the case of Croatian citizen kidnapped in Egypt, he confirmed that he discussed this issue with a lot of people in Europe as well as with Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic who had just returned from Egypt where she held talks with Egyptian officials in a bid to resolve this hostage crisis. "This is a difficult situation, we must be as discreet as possible, but it is very difficult," Milanovic said. Asked if Croatian services should have been more organised in handling this case, the PM said the Croatian services were very professional, adding that "some things are possible and some are impossible."
(Text and foto: HINA)