The European Union has obligations towards the region and Croatia, and for those those obligations to be met, we have to reform the institutions which were designed for the existing 27 members, said Barreiros, whose country took over presidency of the EU on July 1.
The ambassador thus indirectly confirmed that the EU would admit new members only after it adopted a new treaty, although he underlined that enlargement was one of the main items on the EU's agenda.
Portugal has called for July 23 an Inter-governmental Conference which is expected to finalise a European treaty after a framework for it was agreed at an EU summit in June, and which is expected to end before the next EU summit in October.
A new EU treaty, future enlargement, and the strengthening of security, justice and freedom are some of priorities of the Portuguese EU presidency about which Barreiros spoke in Zagreb's Europe House today.