"We are seriously considering organising an international conference on the Balkans, like the ones held in Zagreb in 2000 and Thessaloniki in 2003," the new state secretary at the Austrian Foreign Ministry, Hans Winkler, told the France Presse newswire on Wednesday.
"The Balkans will be among our priorities" for historical and geographical reasons, he said, recalling Vienna's political engagement in the region and the presence of Austrian troops and police in peace missions in the former Yugoslavia, notably in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo.
Winkler commended Croatia's progress in the implementation of the necessary reforms, and recalled that Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik said in Salzburg yesterday that "Croatia is part of Europe" and that "its drawing closer to the European Union is a model for neighbouring countries".