Croatian PM Plenkovic in Athens for west Balkans-EU informal summit; refers to football fan’s stabbing death, Croatians jailed for hooligan violence

Bilateral relations and regional developments, particularly those affecting the western Balkans, were the two main issues discussed on Monday in Athens by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his visiting Croatian counterpart Andrej Plenkovic.

In reference to the unprecedented incident shocked Greece and much of the football world earlier this month, Croatian PM expressed his condolences over the stabbing death of a 29-year-old local man outside the AEK Athens stadium in the Nea Philadelphia district.
He also expressed confidence in the Greek justice system, given that scores of Dinamo Zagreb “ultras” were arrested by police after the hooligan violence and are now remanded pending trial.

In reply to press questions over the explosive case, Plenkovic first said he and the Croatian delegation again expressed regret over what he called “this horrible incident”, in reference to the death of Michalis Katsouris.

He also said the Croatia delegation brought up four points in relation to the arrested Croatian nationals, namely, guaranteed security of the latter in Greek prisons and detention centers; a “free and fair trial”, as he said; the possibility of immediate deportation of individuals charged only with misdemeanors in relation to the violence on Aug. 7, and finally, a possible pre-trial detention in Croatia, within the EU legal framework, should the Greek judiciary agree to such a prospect.

Plenkovic arrived in Athens on Monday for a Western Balkans and EU member-state leaders’ summit and an informal discussion and dinner touching on EU enlargement.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel are scheduled to attend the leaders’ dinner on Monday evening.