"I can say I am satisfied, because we have used this visit well to strengthen Croatian-US relations and Croatia's international position in general," Sanader told Croatian reporters in Washington at the end of the visit.
Over the last few days the Croatian prime minister has met for talks with US President George W. Bush, Presidential National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, a number of US congressmen and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
After brief talks with the US president on Tuesday, Sanader said that Bush supported Croatia in its efforts to become a full member of NATO and the European Union.
Sanader's meeting with Hadley focused on Croatia's progress towards the EU and NATO and the prospect of achieving a lasting stability in Southeast Europe. "We want peace, prosperity and stability in that part of Europe, and Croatia's entry into the EU and NATO can certainly contribute to that," the Croatian prime minister said.
Sanader went on to say that the United States was satisfied with Croatia's role in the international community "primarily as a member of the anti-terrorist coalition".
"My impression is that the US is satisfied with Croatia's role in that, and we will certainly help in strengthening democracy in countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq," he said.
The prime minister said that one of the topics discussed was also the case of fugitive Croatian army general Ante Gotovina, who is wanted by the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on war crimes charges.
The EU delayed opening membership talks with Croatia this March because Croatia had failed to arrest the fugitive general and transfer him to The Hague, and the US insists that this sole remaining issue with the Hague tribunal be resolved.
"We want to resolve that issue. No one can be above and beyond the law," Sanader said. "Croatia has a constitutional law on cooperation (with the Hague tribunal) and it is the duty of us all to respect it. If (generals) Norac, Cermak and Markac have done it, then others also should, including Gotovina."
"That is our domestic and international obligation. I hope everyone in Croatia will understand that, because there is no alternative," the prime minister said.
On Wednesday, Sanader addressed the American Foreign Policy Council on Croatia in the context of Euro-Atlantic integration processes.
Speaking of the Gotovina case, Sanader said that Croatia was committed to the rule of law. "If someone has been charged with something, he must answer for it before a court of law," he said.
Sanader said that the information he receives from the Croatian intelligence services point to the conclusion that Gotovina is not in Croatia. "We do not know where he is," he said.
The prime minister also talked about the government's action plan to locate Gotovina, stressing that Croatia would make every effort to close this case.
Sanader said that if EU accession talks started this autumn Croatia might complete them by the end of 2007 or the start of 2008, and that the country's goal was to join the bloc by 1 January 2009.
Speaking of NATO, Sanader said that Croatia deserved an invitation for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation at its summit in 2006, in which case it could become a member a year or two after that.
Also on Wednesday, Sanader met World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz for talks on Croatia's foreign policy activities and economic reforms being implemented by the government.
"I informed him about that and I am sure that we will continue good cooperation with the World Bank and also with the International Monetary Fund," Sanader said.
The prime minister said that Croatia wanted to use advice from economic experts from the two international financial organisations in overcoming two major problems -- stopping foreign debt growth and dealing with the national budget deficit.
Sanader said that in 2003 his government inherited from the previous government a deficit of 6.3 per cent of Gross Domestic Product, reduced it to 4.9 per cent in 2004, and planned to further reduce it to 4.2 per cent in 2005.
"Our goal is to come down to about three per cent around 2007," in which way Croatia would achieve the criterion applied to EU countries, he added.
Sanader also met managers from US military equipment manufacturer General Dynamics, which would like to cooperate with Croatian company Djuro Djakovic in the manufacture of combat vehicles.
"I wanted to see what their intentions were," Sanader said, adding that a final decision would be made by Djuro Djakovic and the Croatian Ministry of Defence.