The statement said that it was with good will that President Napolitano accepted President Mesic's statement about the continuation of bilateral relations in the spirit of cooperation and friendship. Italy will support, as in the past, Croatia's bid to join the EU, the statement by the Italian Foreign Ministry said.
President Napolitano joined President Mesic in his wish for an Italian-Croatian meeting to be organised at the highest level, the ministry said, underlining satisfaction that the Italian-Croatian dispute has been overcome.
The office of the Croatian president issued a statement saying that "Croatia has taken note of the explanations given at the talks at the Italian Foreign Ministry on February 13 between Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema and Croatian Ambassador Tomislav Vidosevic."
The Croatian representative was told that President Napolitano's speech on the occasion of the remembrance day for Italian WWII victims was in no way intended to cause a controversy regarding Croatia, nor to question the 1947 peace treaties or the Osimo and Rome Accords, nor was it inspired by revenge-seeking or historical revisionism, the statement from Mesic's office said.
"The explanations were accepted with understanding and they have contributed to overcoming misunderstandings caused by the speech," the statement said.
"President Mesic believes that the explanations confirm the essential basis for the further development of friendly and mutually useful relations between the two countries. President Mesic recalls his wish, expressed on several occasions, for Croatia and Italy to hold a meeting at the highest level," the statement said.