If we want the European future to be better than the European past, which was characterised by wars, tragedies and genocides, then the European Union, despite the problems it is facing, has no alternative, he said at a ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of the Croatian Society of Political Science.
Croatia has to be part of the common Europe and participate in the building of a continent of peace and wellbeing, Sanader said, adding that European cooperation was the only alternative to confrontation.
Every European people and every European country must have its place at the European Union's table, where decisions on Europe's future are made, he said. Sometimes those decisions will directly refer to Croatia, sometimes indirectly, but there is not one decision in Europe that will not reflect on us one way or another, he added.
Commenting on the crisis following the rejection of the European constitution at French and Dutch referendums last year, Sanader said that this would not bring into question Croatia's plans to become an EU member.
Membership negotiations are under way on the technical level and they do not obstruct European discussions on the constitution, enlargement fatigue and absorption capacities, Sanader said.
He recalled that the issue of the EU's future institutional structure was expected to be settled by the end of 2008, by which time Croatia planned to close pre-accession negotiations and be ready for membership.
If that is not the case, the European Parliament's task force comprising representatives of all European parties feel that the Nice Agreement provides for the possibility of Croatia's becoming the EU's 28th member, Sanader said.
The European Parliament's vice president, Ingo Friedrich, agreed that Croatia's place was in Europe and underlined that Europe could not be complete without Croatia.
Croatia is more developed than some EU member states and there are no objective reasons to block its accession, he said, adding that many in Europe felt that Europe was enlarging too fast and thought too much within national frameworks, which he said was no longer enough in today's globalised world.
Sanader and Freidrich were speaking at a conference called "The European Union, the National State and the Future of Democracy" at the Zagreb School of Political Science (FPZ).
The event, which closes on October 29, was organised by the Croatian Society of Political Science (HPD), the Hanns Seidel Foundation, and the FPZ. It is being held under the auspices of the Croatian government and is part of "European Political Parties in the European Parliament", a project of the HPD and the Seidel foundation.
HPD president Tihomir Cipek said this Society felt that EU accession was not a loss but a reinforcement of sovereignty.
Dean Smiljana Leinert Novosel said the Zagreb School of Political Science had been active for 44 years and was the oldest such institution in Europe. This year the School marks 35 years of journalistic studies.