Grabar-Kitarovic was attending the Forum's plenary session "European Integration Process - Meeting the Requirements for Full Membership" as a guest speaker.
She said that Southeast European countries were doing a lot in adopting European standards and implementing reform, and that they wanted to exchange information on what had been achieved and what was yet to be done.
"All that is being done to fulfil the membership criteria, but we are doing it primarily for our own sake, for the sake of our citizens and stability in Southeast Europe," the minister said.
"The prospect of membership is a catalyst, a motivator, but we would carry out all the reforms on our own anyway, to our own benefit. European future is based on individual merits, it is the best motivator for reform, because we know that we will not have to wait for the last in line," Grabar-Kitarovic said.
Grabar-Kitarovic pointed out that Croatia strongly supported the European perspective of the whole region and that the aim of the Zagreb conference was to ensure that the voice of Southeast Europe was heard better and to encourage cooperation among countries in the region.
As head of the government delegation for accession talks, Grabar-Kitarovic expressed satisfaction with what had been achieved since the talks started on 3 October 2005, and noted that Croatia had shown it was meeting the membership criteria in full.
"I believe Croatia will on its part maintain the momentum of the talks and that the EU will negotiate in good faith, in which way they will together achieve results that will also have a positive effect on the neighbouring countries," the minister said.