Croatia's position is clear. Its basic interest is peace and stability and we would like Belgrade and Pristina to reach a compromise. We support the efforts of the international community, the European Union, former Finnish President Ahtisaari and the Contact Group and we definitely want to avoid a situation in which efforts to solve one problem open another, the Croatian minister said in Brussels, where the forum's session was held on the margins of a regular meeting of European Union foreign ministers.
We call for patience and common sense and we shall be absolutely constructive and offer all the assistance we can, she said.
At their ministerial conference in Brussels, EU foreign ministers unanimously supported the UN special envoy for Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, and his blueprint for Kosovo.
Earlier in the day, Minister Grabar Kitarovic said that Italy and Croatia should focus on closing outstanding issues and let historians deal with the past.
She gave this statement against the backdrop of a recent speech by the Italian President on crimes committed in the wake of the Second World War.
President Stjepan Mesic said on Monday he was "unpleasantly surprised" at the "content and tone" of the latest statements by the Italian state leadership about the past, as well as current relations between Italy and Croatia.
Last Saturday Italy commemorated the victims of the foibe massacres and persecutions of Italians by the former Yugoslav regime during and in the wake of World War II, while President Giorgio Napolitano presented decorations to the families of 30 victims.
Presenting the decorations, Napolitano said the drama of the Giulian-Dalmatian people had been caused by the "Slavic bloodthirsty hatred and rage".
"These claims, in which one cannot but see elements of open racism, historical revisionism and political revenge-seeking, are definitely difficult to put side by side with the declared wish for the promotion of bilateral relations," the Office of the Croatian President said in a statement.