The seminar, entitled "Towards Euro-Atlantic Integration: Progress and Challenges in Southeast Europe", brought together about 150 participants, including parliamentarians from the European Union and NATO representatives. Among them was the Chairman of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Pier Lellouche.
The seminar was opened by the Deputy Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, Luka Bebic, who said that Croatia had been consistently and transparently highlighting EU and NATO membership, development of good neighbourly relations, regional cooperation and cooperation with democratic countries as its strategic priorities.
"On its path towards the North Atlantic Alliance, Croatia has taken great steps in the process of adjusting to NATO standards in the political, economic, legislative, defence and security areas," Bebic said.
Croatia is in the third cycle of the Membership Action Plan and its ambition is to secure an invitation for the start of membership talks before the alliance's next summit, most likely to take place in 2006, or at the summit, Bebic said.
The head of the Croatian Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Kresimir Cosic, said that Croatia was a leader of cooperation within the US-backed Adriatic Charter initiative, which also includes Albania and Macedonia. He added that the three countries had made visible progress in the adjustment and transformation of their defence and security systems.
The seminar will discuss military relations between NATO and Southeast Europe, defence reform, NATO enlargement and the Adriatic Charter.