Barroso met Croatian President Stjepan Mesic in Brussels on Wednesday. After the talks, the EC President told the press that he had informed Mesic about the EC's position on the Ecological and Fisheries Protection Zone.
I have unequivocally told President Mesic that the Commission expects Croatia, a credible candidate country, to commit to its obligations assumed at the start of the (accession) negotiations and not to take unilateral measures regarding the Ecological and Fisheries Protection Zone. Regional cooperation and good neighbourly relations are important and I have requested Croatia to invest maximum efforts in the settlement of all issues with neighbours, particularly border-related issues, Barroso said.
Asked whether he feared that plans for the EFPZ could lead to a confrontation with the European Union, the Croatian president said there would be no confrontations.
He added that Croatia also expected its neighbours to consult Zagreb when making decisions which also concerned Croatia. The same applies to Croatia, he added.