MAHMOUD FAHEL, an 11-year-old boy from Syria, found his best friend in war veteran Branko Skrtic, even though he is 51 years older than him.

The former military commander has been talking to the young Syrian for the last seven months, since the day Mahmoud and his family moved into a building next to his. They are inseparable, and they even have a routine together – first, they take a walk through Karlovac, then they play football, and later they have ice-cream.

"I will always remember the day the Jesuit service van dropped them off in front of the building. I welcomed them because people from my family were refugees in 1991, so I know what that's like," Skrtic stated for RTL Direkt.

"Now he's like a grandson to me," Branko added. Mahmoud said that Branko is his best friend. "When I came to Karlovac, I only knew the word "good". Branko would come and ask: How are you? I would answer: Good. Branko would say: Come to my house, and I kept responding "tomorrow". One day, Branko asked: What's the problem? And I answered: Aras is, I'm afraid of your dog," the boy recalled.

The boy arrived in Croatia with his parents and three brothers last summer. They traveled from Aleppo to Turkey, from Turkey to a shelter in Kutina, and then settled in Karlovac. Although Mahmoud's parents do not speak Croatian, they have a good relationship with Branko's family.

He, on the other hand, is learning Croatian quite fast.

"Mahmoud is making progress every day, his language skills are excellent," says Skrtic. Mahmoud considers the Croatian language to be easy. "It's not that hard if you're smart," he concludes and adds that he is a Croat and a fan of the football club Dinamo.

When asked what he remembers about his homeland Syria, Mahmoud says: "I was only four years old, and I only remember boom, boom. There was a lot of shooting ... "

When their arrival was announced, Branko's neighbors started a petition against it. After word of their friendship got out, there were also comments that Branko had "embraced a little isis boy."

"We war veterans should now be peace veterans," says Branko Skrtic.