"This is very good news," Sanader said, adding that "NATO is not only a military organisation but an organisation that shares common values with the EU such as freedom, peace, democracy and market economy".
Burns said he arrived to Croatia, representing US President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, adding that his visit to Zagreb showed the US strong support to Croatia.
The United States most strongly supports Croatia's membership of NATO, Burns said.
He stressed that the United States and Croatia had excellent relations and that the two countries were partners. adding that the US wanted to see Croatia as the leader in the region.