Grabar-Kitarovic congratulated Ader on his reelection in March and expressed her satisfaction with the fact that he visited Croatia so soon after the election. Ader arrived in Zagreb on Wednesday for a two-day official visit to Croatia, at the invitation of Grabar-Kitarovic and this was their 10th official meeting.
The Croatian president told a joint news conference after their bilateral meeting that the two countries' relations had been burdened by several outstanding issues over the past several years, adding however "those issues should not pose an obstacle to cooperation."
"Strong bonds and mutual interests should create a favourable climate for resolving outstanding issues -- from the INA-MOL case to other issues in energy and cross-border cooperation sectors and the migration policy," Grabar-Kitarovic said.
Grabar-Kitarovic president expressed conviction that Hungary would continue to support Croatia's aspirations to enter the Schengen Area as soon as possible, underscoring that she and Ader agreed that the Western Balkan migrant route must stay closed and dialogue with Turkey must continue.
The priority is to protect the external borders, which means Croatia's borders, to avoid the need to control EU internal borders, including the one between Croatia and Hungary, the two presidents agreed.
They also talked about the position of the respective minorities, with Grabar-Kitarovic expressing hope that the Croat representative in the Hungarian parliament would receive the status of full member of parliament. Croatia's representative currently has the status of a spokesperson in the Hungarian parliament. Grabar-Kitarovic also stressed the importance of the construction of a Croatian theatre in Pecs.
One of the projects important to both countries is the construction of an LNG terminal on the northern Croatian island of Krk which will increase gas supplies and enable the construction of connectors, Grabar-Kitarovic said and the Hungarian president agreed.
They also talked about the completion of the railway corridor between the northern Adriatic city of Rijeka and Hungary's capital Budapest and a road corridor between the southern Croatian port of Ploce and Budapest. Ader said Hungary would complete the construction of its section of the corridor leading to the Croatian border within three years.
Ader asked Grabar-Kitarovic to have Croatia focus on opening new border-crossings. The last border-crossing was opened in 2008 and currently the distance between border crossings is too large -- approximately 50 kilometres, Ader said.
He called for re-opening of talks on joint exploration and exploitation of gas and oil along the Croatia-Hungary border.
Both presidents underscored that the INA-MOL issue was not within their jurisdiction, adding that they did not plan on intervening. They, however, said they wish to serve as a catalyst for attempts to resolve the issue burdening the two countries' relations.
"In my opinion, energy is one of the strategic branches of the economy... and I will support the government's efforts to find a solution beneficial for both countries," Grabar-Kitarovic said.
Ader said MOL had invested significant resources into INA's development, stressing that if Croatia wanted to buy back its share in INA it should pay Hungary back the money invested so far.
Later today, the Hungarian president is expected to meet Croatian government officials to discuss this issue further.