Croatia can count on Germany's strong support in the process of joining the EU, notably during Germany's presidency of the bloc in the second half of 2007, Straub told Seks.
Germany has taken a number of measures at the federal and regional levels aimed at supporting Croatia's fast admission to the EU, Straub told Seks.
Seks, who is on a two-day visit to Baden-Wuerttemburg at Straub's invitation, informed his German host of the current state of affairs in Croatia's EU entry talks, as well as of the pace and course of the screening process, Abramovic said.
"The Croatian Parliament Speaker said Croatia wanted to complete the negotiations fast but that it also wanted them to be good and that it was not concerned about the entry date," Abramovic said.
Seks told Straub that Croatia's objective was to complete the negotiations by the end of 2008 and become a full EU member by June 2009 so that Croatian citizens could vote in the elections for the European Parliament.
Asked about Croatia's position towards the parallel paths of Croatia and Turkey to the EU, Seks told Straub Croatia was convinced it was justified to separate the two negotiating processes. Straub agreed with Seks, underlining recent statements by German Chancellor Angela Merkel who advocated that each country should be assessed according to its own merits.
The two parliament speakers said that economic cooperation between Croatia and Germany was good, stressing, however, that there was room for advancing it and reducing Croatia's deficit in trade with Germany. They also talked about tourism.
Later today, Seks will attend the presentation "Croatia - A Land of Sports and Tourism" in the Stuttgart city hall.