"Ever since I first visited Afghanistan I fell in love with your country, people and customs," said Grabar-Kitarovic after the talks with the Afghan president, recalling that she visited Afghanistan many times.
She invited President Ghani to officially visit Croatia when the two countries should sign an agreement on cooperation and friendship.
"I am proud of the fact that in these 12 years Croatia had first taken part in combat mission of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and now it is taking part in the follow-on NATO-led mission called Resolute Support, aimed at providing further training, advice and assistance for the Afghan security forces and institutions," the Croatian president said.
"Croatia will be the voice of Afghanistan in the European Union," she stressed.
Grabar-Kitarovic stressed Croatia would continue to help Afghanistan, not only in training Afghan security forces, but through projects as well, more specifically 16 projects aimed at helping children, improving the health protection of the population, notably women.
I want for all Afghan children to have equal living conditions as my own children, she added.
Ghani underscored the contribution of Croatian soldiers to the establishment of peace in that country and the training of Afghan forces.
At the meeting with PM Abdullah, Grabar-Kitarovic underscored the importance of education, notably of the young people, for the future of the country and the Afghan prime minister thanked the Croatian president for cooperation, support and assistance Croatia was giving to Afghanistan.
Grabar-Kitarovic also held talks with the Afghan ministers of foreign affairs, defence, interior and women's affairs, the chairwoman of the independent human rights commission and principal of the School of Leadership in Afganistan – SOLE.
The Croatian president arrived in Kabul on Sunday morning for an official visit to Afghanistan which is scheduled to last several days. During the visit, which has not been previously announced for security reasons, Grabar-Kitarovic is expected to hold talks with Afghan leaders, commanders of NATO's Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan and members of its Croatian contingent.
Grabar-Kitarovic, who is also Croatia's Armed Forces Supreme Commander, will also hold talks with the commander of NATO's Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan, US Army General John F. Campbell and NATO's Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan Ismail Aramaz.
The Croatian president will also travel to Mazar-i-Sharif where she will hold talks with the commander of the Train Advise Assist Command-North (TAAC-N), Andreas Hanneman, NATO civilian representative for that region Cornelius Zimmermann, the Governor of the Balkh Province, Atta Muhammad Nur, and the coordinator of Croatia's development assistance Rababeh Nadzibi.
Grabar-Kitarovic has visited Afghanistan and NATO troops on several occasions, as NATO assistant secretary general for public diplomacy and as Croatia's foreign minister. This is her first visit to Afghanistan as Croatia's president and Armed Forces supreme commander.
Following the completion of the mission of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) at the end of 2014, a new, follow-on NATO-led mission called Resolute Support was launched on 1 January 2015 to provide further training, advice and assistance for the Afghan security forces and institutions. Some 12,000 personnel from both NATO and partner nations are deployed in support of the mission. The mission will operate with one central hub (in Kabul/Bagram) and four spokes in Mazar-i-Sharif, Herat, Kandahar and Laghman.
Unlike ISAF, the Resolute Support Mission is a non-combat mission.
According to a decision adopted by the Croatian Parliament, Croatia can deploy up to 120 soldiers to Afghanistan. Currently 94 Croatian soldiers are serving there and another 19 are set to be deployed to Afghanistan in the near future. Most of them are located in Mazar-i-Sharif where they are training Afghan soldiers and a small number is the Training Command in Kabul.