Sanader attended a summit of the European People's Party (EPP) in Meise and held talks with Barroso.
I cannot comment on specific issues now, it was a broad discussion between two friends, me and Prime Minister Sanader, said Barroso.
It was not a formal meeting and all I can tell you is that in great part we have solved the main issues in our negotiations with Croatia. I am glad about the progress Croatia has made so far and we strongly support Croatia's European perspective, we are working actively with Prime Minister Sanader, his government and team so that this could become a reality, and we will do our best so that this big project for Croatia and Europe could be accomplished as soon as possible, said Barroso.
He declined to comment on the Croatian government's decision to activate the Ecological and Fisheries Protection Zone (EFPZ) in the Adriatic Sea.
Sanader said Barroso had spoken of Croatia in his address at the EPP summit as the next country which would join the EU after Bulgaria and Romania. He added that all the participants in the summit had supported Croatia.
Sanader said he had invited German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the next chair of the Council of the EU, and Barroso to a South Eastern Europe Cooperation Process summit in Zagreb in May, at the end of Croatia's presidency of the association. They accepted in principle, he said.
Sanader went on to say that he had informed the officials he held talks with, including Slovene PM Janez Jansa, of the Croatian government's decision to activate the EFPZ in early 2008.
We were in touch with them in the past few days and I think that we have complied with our obligation to hold consultations and talks with our neighbours, he said.
On Friday, Sanader is due to meet the president of the Council of the EU, Finnish PM Matti Vanhanen, and EPP president Wilfried Martens.