"We applaud the NATO summit's decisions and the announcement of enlargement in the spring of 2008 which refers to Croatia as well," Prime Minister Ivo Sanader told a government session.
The government adopted a special statement applauding the NATO Declaration regarding the alliance's new tasks and role which was adopted at the November 28-29 summit in Riga, including the announcement that the alliance is ready to enlarge in 2008.
Sanader said the government was pleased that NATO had recognised that Croatia had progressed sufficiently in all segments and that it could expect a concrete invitation to join in 18 months.
He announced that the government, the president of state and the parliament speaker would meet next week within the State Committee for NATO to discuss a communication strategy aimed at acquainting the public with all the advantages of NATO membership.
"NATO is no longer what it used to be during the Cold War. It shares the common values of freedom and peace. Had Croatia been a member of NATO, no one would have dared to drop even one bomb in 1991," said Sanader.
He underlined that with its NATO membership Croatia wanted to share the global values of freedom and peace, human and minority rights, democracy and the rule of law -- everything characterising contemporary Croatia.
Sanader said the communication strategy would focus on those values, the global war on terror and collective protection of all NATO members.