Barroso thanked Sanader for inviting him to "a very important summit" of the Southeast Europe Cooperation Process (SEECP) and for the opportunity to discuss together Croatia's prospects.
He said that the SEECP was gaining importance as a voice of the region in the international community and commended Croatia for the "successful and very effective presidency" of this initiative.
The SEECP is also an important process for the European perspective of many other countries in the region, Barroso said.
Speaking of Croatia's progress towards EU membership, the Commission President said that membership talks between Croatia and the EU had started off well, noting that six policy chapters had been opened and that efforts were being made to open some other chapters before the end of the German presidency of the bloc.
We hope for additional efforts by Croatia in key areas such as judicial reform, the fight against corruption, and the return of refugees, Barroso said, expressing confidence that 2007 would not be just an election year in Croatia but also a year of reform.
Sanader recalled that during their first meeting in Brussels, Barroso had expressed a wish that Croatia would become a member of the EU during his term in office, if possible.
"That is also our wish. A date is not important to us, but the quality of negotiations is. However, we have to have some kind of a target and an idea as to when we wish to join," Sanader said.
Sanader reiterated his satisfaction with the membership talks, saying that Croatia was ready for a series of reforms lying ahead, because "we want to attain the European standards for the benefit of Croatian citizens."
Barroso and Sanader then went to the Mimara Museum to join SEECP heads of state and government at a formal dinner. Also attending were Croatian President Stjepan Mesic, Parliament Speaker Vladimir Seks, Slovene Prime Minister Janez Jansa, Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis, US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns, Southeast Europe Stability Pact Coordinator Erhard Busek, and other senior officials from the SEECP countries.