Kostunica is the first Serbian prime minister to visit Croatia since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
In an interview for Hina Kostunica said that the cooperation between the two countries had been particularly good since 2001, since when the countries had signed two declarations on the settlement of refugee issues and problems related to property belonging to Croatian Serbs.
The considerable progress in bilateral relations is reflected in the dialogue between the two countries, which share the same political goals and views on the future of the region in different areas - from politics to the economy and culture, Kostunica said.
Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader's visit to Belgrade in November last year additionally contributed to the cooperation, the Serbian PM said.
Kostunica positively assessed the results in economic cooperation, welcoming the growth of trade and the privatisation processes that have been launched. He stressed the need for both countries to be equally open to the participation of Serbian and Croatian business people in investment and privatisation processes.
Commenting on cultural cooperation, Kostunica said that it was satisfactory, pointing to joint activities in marking the 150th anniversary of the birth of Nikola Tesla.
Commenting on sports events, he said that the latest events involving the two countries' national teams showed that incidents at such events could be avoided.
The position of national minorities in both countries has improved and the consistent application of the agreement on the protection of minorities provides additional guarantees with regard to the exercise of minority rights in both countries, Kostunica said.
He said he deeply regretted the fact that ten years after the war Serbs and Croats did not know the fate of their dearest ones.
"No matter how painful this issue may be, it must be approached rationally and commissions on missing persons should be encouraged to solve that problem as soon as possible," the Serbian PM said, proposing drawing up a single list of missing persons regardless of their nationality.
Stressing the need to avoid the politicising of this issue, Kostunica said that the increasingly good cooperation of the two countries' judicial institutions was expected to contribute to solving the problem.
Speaking about the outstanding issues which the Serbian side considered to be priority issues, Kostunica said that those were property-rights relations, the reconstruction of property destroyed in the war, and tenancy rights.
"Unfortunately, there are also ethnically-motivated incidents, as well as the problem of arrest warrants against Croatian citizens of Serb nationality and their arrest, which very often is not based on evidence. But I am confident that Prime Minister Sanader and I will manage, in the spirit of understanding which marked all of our previous meetings, to create conditions to alleviate those problems and eventually eliminate them," Kostunica said.
He said he expected to reach agreement with Sanader on the promotion of bilateral cooperation, particularly through the widening of cooperation in the judiciary and in the area of property-rights relations, on the adoption of regulations on consular activities, and on cross-border cooperation in a number of areas, including in case of natural disasters.
Kostunica added that he would propose cooperation in drawing up agreements regulating cooperation in the areas of transport, telecommunications, agriculture and culture and education.
Speaking of examples of cooperation, he cited the reopening of the ferry service linking the eastern Croatian town of Vukovar and Bac in neighbouring Serbia and plans to reconstruct a railway bridge on the Danube river.
Speaking about the importance of regional cooperation, Kostunica said he appreciated PM Sanader's position that all countries in the region should help the international community to find the right solution for Kosovo which would be approved by Belgrade.
Serbia and Croatia share the same goal - Europe, and good neighbourly relations are a precondition for achieving that goal, said Kostunica, concluding that this was only one of the reasons why additional patience, tactfulness and good will were needed in order to promote mutual cooperation.