The French president was greeted at the entrance to the Zagreb Hotel Esplanade by Sinj Alka knights, after which he got acquainted with the cars in the company of the Croatian prime minister, Defence Minister Mario Banožić and Mate Rimac, owner of Rimac Automobili, which took over the French company Bugatti earlier this year.
"This is to show cooperation between France and Croatia," Rimac said.
"Bugatti has a 112-year history in Molsheim, France, and we make the fastest petrol cars there, and we make the fastest electric cars in the world here in Zagreb. So it made sense to connect the two," he added.
Macron and Plenković viewed Bugatti's Chiron, the fastest car in the world with more than 1,600 horsepower and speed of 490 km/h, and Rimac's Nevera, the car with the fastest acceleration in the world.
After that, they moved to another part of the hotel where a lunch reception was given for prominent guests, including former Croatian national football team coach Miroslav Ćiro Blažević and current coach Zlatko Dalić, Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević, former Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli, and others.
After the lunch, Macron travels to Rome for an official visits to Italy and the Vatican.