The interview has been granted ahead of Croatian President Stjepan Mesic's three-day visit to Belgrade, which starts on Wednesday. During the visit, Mesic will meet top state officials and representatives of the Croatian minority.
"Serbia-Montenegro and Croatia treat each other like good neighbours, partners in many ventures. We have a common priority goal, accession to the European Union. SCG and Croatia are especially committed to the stability of the region as a whole, in which their role is especially accentuated," said Marovic.
He underlined the importance of advancing economic cooperation, saying this was facilitated by the no-visa regime and a series of agreements and decisions.
"Of course, there are issues we have to solve, but the new spirit of confidence and compromise which exists between SCG and Croatia, as well as in the entire region, guarantees that the number of so-called outstanding issues will decrease with time. In all this we have to show maturity for the future. Personally, I recognise it in the most important places in SCG and Croatia."
Asked about the SCG's bid to join the EU, Marovic said he was optimistic and that negotiations on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement would certainly start in the autumn.
"For this accelerated rhythm we need the EU's support, but the bulk of the work is on us," he said, adding that the strong pro-European mood and increasingly better organisation of institutions in SCG indicated that the state union would make up for lost time and step up its European integration.
The SCG president said his country valued the experience of Croatia and other neighbours in drawing closer to the EU. He also pointed to a connection between the foreign policy priorities, which he said were an accelerated EU integration process and an active policy of cooperation in the region.
Marovic said the majority in SCG was happy about the success of its neighbours in their EU integration. "It's a mistake and self-destructive to see in the progress of Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria a threat to our own European path. It can only be an advantage which we can view as a stimulus to step up our European efforts."
Asked about cooperation with the Hague war crimes tribunal and if it is an opportunity for the public in SCG to face the crimes which had been committed in the name of the people, Marovic said the SCG government had most strongly condemned the crime against prisoners and civilians in Srebrenica in 1995, asking for the prosecution of all who had committed, organised or ordered war crimes, not only in Srebrenica.
"Of course, there are individually different opinions about that, but they don't oppose the condemnation of the crimes. Their warnings are more about the need to shed light on the fact that crimes were committed against Bosniaks, against Croats and against Serbs. Personally, I second this approach which binds one to condemn every concrete crime. It is therefore important to underline that to condemn a crime one must know the full truth about it, because it is only with the truth about both the good and the evil that we can defend the right to the full truth about each crime," Marovic said, adding the public was increasingly linking the condemnation of crimes with the question of morality.
He said crimes must be condemned regardless if this made a country join the EU sooner or later, adding that this also encouraged and strengthened the implementation of international commitments and the process of meeting European standards.
Marovic said it was necessary to have an objective attitude to the past, a task stemming from a document recently signed by the presidents of Croatia, SCG and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Marovic said these three countries were recently faced with "the traps of the reopening of some dilemmas from the past which were aimed at diverting attention from strategic issues for the future". He added those traps were resisted with the power of "European arguments, pragmatism and vision".
"Certainly, nobody in our region must forget the tragedies which happened in the recent and the distant past, but at the same time nobody is entitled to set the past and history as an obstacle to the realisation of our common European aspirations," Marovic said, highlighting cultural cooperation as a field which could be conducive to better mutual understanding.
Asked about the outstanding issues between Croatia and SCG, Marovic said that "fortunately, none of those issues is this allegedly big historical topic or something unsolvable".
Mentioning refugee return, the regulation of the state border, some economic issues, and the further protection of minorities' rights, Marovic said the principal condition for their settlement was the existence of constant dialogue at all levels, which he added the two countries had already established and were constantly improving.
"We have the good will, we have constant communication, willingness to find a compromise, and this is why I'm optimistic about the closure of the so-called outstanding issues in a relatively short term."
Asked what he expected of his meeting with Mesic, Marovic said he was looking forward to it and that he expected the continuation of talks about the European processes in both SCG and Croatia, about further cooperation, the advancement of economic relations, cooperation in regional initiatives and about outstanding issues.
"I'm certain this visit will give new impetus to our good neighbourly relations and common European goals," the SCG president said.