Josipovic will attend a session of the NGO movement - the Igman Initiative - to be held in Belgrade on October 14.

In an interview with the Serbian national broadcasting network RTS, Josipovic said Croatia's relations with its neighbours were progressing, reiterating that politically, Croatia would continue to support Serbia on its path to European associations.

The Croatian president said relations in the region were "significantly better" than "a year or a year and a half ago".

Josipovic stressed that "we must be aware" of the fact that in the situation when many people were killed, their homes set on fire and

families murdered and when some 1,800 Croatians and Serbs went missing, "there is a certain amount of sensitivity.

Josipovic also said that Serbia and Croatia looked differently at some events from the history. ''For Croatia, the Homeland war was a liberation war and will always perceive it that way. But it is important that we are aware that crimes had been committed by the Croatian side too and that all crimes need to be treated equally," Josipovic said.

With Croatia's EU admission, Serbia will have another country advocate its EU entry, Josipovic said, adding that just like Croatia had, Serbia too would have to meet all the criteria prior to its EU entry.

Asked about possibilities for Serbian business people to invest in Croatia, Josipovic said they could invest by applying to public tenders or through greenfield investments.

"I agree with those who claim it is difficult to invest in Croatia. We hear that from Germans, Americans, the French, even Croats," Josipovic said.

On Friday Josipovic will attend the 22nd session of the Igman Initiative entitled "European perspective, cooperation and regional stability". Some two hundred guests from former Yugoslav Republics, together with around twenty representatives from European Embassies and USA are expected to attend, including EU Enlargement Commission Stefan Fuele.