The minister told Croatian reporters that her meeting with Burns was "a very open dialogue" covering bilateral cooperation, cooperation in Southeastern Europe and Croatia's role as a regional leader, and global cooperation in the fight against terrorism and the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Grabar Kitarovic's visit and a recent visit by Prime Minister Ivo Sanader to the United States show that by intensifying contacts Croatia wants to become a partner to the US in the fight against terrorism and in efforts to strengthen global security as well as in the stabilisation of Southeastern Europe.
Croatia hopes that the United States will, in turn, support its admission to NATO and the EU, the minister added.
Grabar Kitarovic and Burns also discussed the case of runaway general Ante Gotovina, the only remaining outstanding issue in Croatia's cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague which prompted the EU to postpone membership talks with Zagreb in March this year. The Croatian minister briefly said this topic was discussed in a very constructive atmosphere.
Burns recently said that his country would not support Croatia's admission to NATO as long as Gotovina was at large.