"Nikola Tesla is a symbol that goes beyond national frameworks, and as a true democrat and a cosmopolitan he can serve to overcome the hatred and intolerance in Southeast Europe," Mesic said in his opening remarks.
The Minister of Generation and Family Affairs of North Rhine-Westphalia, Armin Laschet, highlighted the importance of cooperation between the universities of Rijeka and Aachen.
"As has been shown many times before, culture and science are ahead of politics, so that here today we are witnessing something that will happen in politics in a few years' time, and that is that Croatia is a full member of the European society," Laschet said.
Earlier on, the heads of the universities of Rijeka and Aachen, Danijel Rukavina and Manfred Schulte Zurhausen respectively, signed an agreement on cooperation between the two universities.
On the third and last day of his visit, the Croatian president also met the Mayor of Aachen and President of the Charlemagne Award Foundation, Juergen Linden.