President Bush to Welcome Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader

President Bush to Welcome Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader

Congressman Radanovich speaks to Croatian Prime Minister, Dr. Ivo Sanader and Croatian Ambassador, Neven Jurica, while the Croatian Minister of Culture, Bozo Biskupic looks on. (July 2005) Croatian Caucus, house.gov

President Bush will welcome Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader to the White House on October 17, 2006. This meeting will provide an opportunity for the President and the Prime Minister to further strengthen the partnership between the United States and Croatia. The President looks forward to discussing cooperation in the War on Terror and stability in Southeast Europe with Prime Minister Sanader, as well as U.S. support for Croatia's NATO and European Union aspirations.

# # # For Immediate Release, Office of the Press Secretary, September 28, 2006

The lands that today comprise Croatia were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the close of World War I. In 1918, the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed a kingdom known after 1929 as Yugoslavia.

Following World War II, Yugoslavia became a federal independent Communist state under the strong hand of Marshal TITO. Although Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, it took four years of sporadic, but often bitter, fighting before occupying Serb armies were mostly cleared from Croatian lands. Under UN supervision, the last Serb-held enclave in eastern Slavonia was returned to Croatia in 1998 CIA FACTBOOK

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Bush, Musharraf, Karzai (VIDEO)

President Bush Hosts Presidents of Pakistan and Afghanistan at the White House Rose Garden FULL STREAMING VIDEO, 7:35 P.M. EDT In Focus: Global Diplomacy and In Focus: Middle East

THE PRESIDENT: Tonight it's my honor to host a dinner with President Musharraf of Pakistan and President Karzai of Afghanistan. These two men are personal friends of mine; they are strong leaders who have a understanding of the world in which we live; they understand that the forces of moderation are being challenged by extremists and radicals. And we're working closely together to help improve the lives of the people in Afghanistan and the people in Pakistan.

President Musharraf kindly greeted me to Pakistan. I had the great privilege of meeting many in his government. I met people in the civil society there. I met those who were helping the Pakistan citizens who were -- whose lives were turned upside down by the devastating earthquake. I saw the compassion of this government, and I was very proud that the American people were helping them recover.

I also had the opportunity to visit President Karzai. He's leading a young democracy. It's a democracy that was formed as a result of the Afghan people voting, having shed itself, with American help, from the Taliban regime.

We've got a lot of challenges facing us. All of us must protect our countries, but at the same time, we all must work to make the world a more hopeful place. And so today's dinner is a chance for us to strategize together, to talk about the need to cooperate, to make sure that people have got a hopeful future. It's very important for the people in Pakistan and Afghanistan to understand that America respects religion, and we respect the right for people to worship the way they see fit. We welcome Muslim leaders here in the White House. I look forward to having dinner with friends of mine who don't happen to share the same faith I do, but nevertheless share the same outlook for a hopeful world.

As we work for a more hopeful world, we will continue to make sure that extremists, such as Osama bin Laden, that wants to hurt my friend here, as well as upset the democracy in Afghanistan, is brought to justice. The main thing I was looking forward to talking about is how the United States government and the people of the United States can help these two countries provide a foundation for hope. And so I want to thank you for coming. We're proud to have you here, Mr. President.

PRESIDENT MUSHARAFF: My pleasure.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Proud to have you here, Mr. President. Let's go eat dinner. Thank you, sir.

PRESIDENT MUSHARAFF: Thank you very much.

PRESIDENT KARZAI: Thanks very much.

END 7:38 P.M. EDT

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