St. Paul, April 28, 2004 – Croatian Ambassador to U.S. dr Ivan Grdesic visited Minnesota today and held meetings with state officials, representatives of Minnesota National Guard and Croatian-Americans. Accompanying him were Croatian military attaché to U.S. Liutenant-colonel Damir Terzic, Croatian Consul general from Chicago, Marica Matkovic and Croatian honorary Consul from St. Paul, Boris Miksic.
Croatian
Ambassador met with Governor Tim Pawlenty and discussed the situation in the
South and Southeast Europe, especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina and on Kosovo
where many U.S. soldiers from Minnesota National Guard serve. Ambassador Grdesic
informed Governor Pawlenty about Croatian progress in joining European Union and
NATO.
Ambassador Grdesic also visited
National Guard of Minnesota and met with General Larry Shellit. During the
meeting, General Shellit was particularly interested in Croatian experiences in
peace-keeping operations. General Shellit plans to visit Croatia in May to
discuss further cooperation with Croatian Army. National Guard of Minnesota has
partner relationship with Croatian Army and has helped it to prepare for NATO’s
Partnership for Peace program.
Croatian Ambassador also met with Tom Rukavina, Croatian American and representative in Kongress of State of Minnesota.
During his visit, Ambassador Grdesic also discussed cooperation between chemical and medical industry from Minnesota and Croatia, namely companies 3M and Mayo clinic.
Croatian Ambassador also held meeting with St. Thomas University’s President, Dennis Dease and Dean of its Business School, Christopher P. Put. President Dease will travel to Zagreb in May to discuss possibility of establishing a Business School in Croatia.
Ambassador Grdesic’s visit concluded with meeting with Croatian American representatives in St. Paul’s Croatian Home. Croatian artists Dunja Knebl and Zvonko Novosel performed Croatian traditional music and poetry at the meeting.
Minnesota is home to 20.000 Croats. Republic of Croatia has a consulate in St. Paul, headed by Croatian-American businessman Boris Miksic. Miksic, who is currently preparing to run at Croatian Presidential elections, organized the Ambassador Grdesic’s visit to Minnesota.