"We hope, and this has been mentioned recently, that we will get an invitation to join NATO in April in Bucharest," Sanader said.
"This is excellent news, not only for Croatia, the EU and NATO, but also for our southeast neighbours," Sanader said after meeting Merkel, who participated in a summit of the Southeast Europe Cooperation Process (SEECP) in Zagreb.
Croatia can continue to count on Germany's support for its admission to NATO, Merkel said.
She commended Croatia's role in the SEECP and added that the country had shown responsibility towards the region.
Croatia has shown a responsible attitude to the region... to the Western Balkans, which we see in Europe. I am impressed by what the Croatian government, led by Ivo Sanader, has achieved, Merkel said.
Sanader expressed satisfaction with the fact that Merkel had supported Croatia and countries in the region and stated clearly that the 2003 Salonika agreement was still in force.
Merkel said that Croatia's accession negotiations with the EU were progressing well and voiced confidence that Croatia's positive example would have an impact on other countries in the region with European aspirations.
She admitted that there was a certain amount of enlargement fatigue in the EU and that the EU was currently not as efficient as it should be.
We have to transform the EU to make it efficient, she added. She explained that military forces were still greatly engaged in the region and that this was why the countries in the region should be offered a European perspective.
Unlike US Under-Secretary of State Nicholas Burns, who previously used much stronger words to criticise the election of Radical Tomislav Nikolic as Serbian parliament president, Merkel said that EU countries would be very happy if democratic pro-European forces were formed in Serbia.
She was not more specific on the issue of Kosovo either, saying only that the EU was currently holding consultations.
We would like the decision on that matter to be acceptable to both sides, Merkel said, admitting that this might not be possible.
Complimenting one another, Sanader and Merkel stated that relations between Croatia and Germany are excellent. Sanader congratulated Merkel on her "excellent leadership of the Union", while Merkel said that the two countries had excellent friendly relations and that she and Sanader were bound by friendship.