All member-countries' ambassadors have supported Croatia and assessed what we do as very good, and the only message to me, the government and the state leadership was to continue, keep those ambitions and there will be no problems, Sanader said after meeting the secretary general and the North Atlantic Council.
He informed the ambassadors who comprise the Council, NATO's highest body, about the implementation of the long term development plan of Croatia's armed forces, Croatia's contribution to international efforts to develop world democracy and peace, and about stronger public support in Croatia for NATO membership.
Scheffer described today's meeting as interesting and positive. He said that although invitations for the summit in Romania had not been verified yet, all ambassadors in the North Atlantic Council had acknowledged Croatia's progress and recommended keeping the current pace and remaining ambitious with regard to public support for membership, refugee return and judicial reform. He added that all allies wished to see Croatia at the NATO table once it met all the criteria.
Today's meeting marked the end of the fifth annual Membership Action Plan cycle and now Croatia is entering the final stage before being invited to join the alliance, which is expected to occur in Bucharest next spring. Sanader said he was optimistic that the invitation would be extended in April 2008.
He went on to say that the ambassadors underlined Croatia's role in Southeast Europe and thanked it for everything it had done during its presidency of the South Eastern Europe Cooperation Process as well as for its role in the US-Adriatic Charter.
Sanader said the growing public support for NATO membership in Croatia was assessed positively.
The communication strategy is giving results and today Croatian citizens know a lot more about NATO and what membership brings than a year ago, he said.
According to the latest surveys, public support for membership has surpassed 50% after revolving around 30% for a long time.