The event, organised by the Steiernaerkische Sparkasse, pooled over 1,000 participants, public figures from the political and economic sector in Austria and guests from south-eastern European countries.
Addressing the gathering on the subject "Croatia on the Road to the European Union", the Croatian premier voiced hope that his country would be included in European parliamentary elections in 2009 as a full member.
"I am sure that the forthcoming report of the Task Force will be positive and that the (EU) Council of Ministers will make a positive decision on launching accession negotiations," Sanader said referring to the Task Force set up by the EU to asses Croatia's cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
Sanader added that the action plan launched by his cabinet this April was producing results and expressed hope that the Task Force would appreciate it.
It is not important just what the tribunal's chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte says but the opinions of other EU member-states and of Croatia are also important, the Croatian premier said, adding that his country had used the last six months to continue with the implementation of the required reforms and the adjustment of national legislation to EU standards.
The start of accession negotiations will be the best incentive for the continuation of reforms, he said.
Commenting on the relations between the EU and Turkey, Sanader said that he did not want to interfere in that, adding that it would be difficult for him to explain how come somebody managed to start membership talks before the end of this year if Croatia did not.
Asked by reporters to comment on relations between Croatia and Slovenia in light of recent disagreements on demarcation of border at sea, Sanader said that the two countries should go together to international arbitration.
"Croatia and Slovenia are two friendly countries. What connects us and what we have in common is much more important than several outstanding issues. Arbitration is a matter of maturity as it is a legitimate diplomatic mechanism. If some other countries such as the U.S and Canada or Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands could resort to it, why wouldn't Croatia and Slovenia do the same binding themselves to accept results of the arbitration," Sanader said.
Former European Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler said that he could not imagine that EU membership talks with Turkey might start without talks with Croatia.
Fischler added that in the economic sense, Croatia was much more developed than some other EU candidates.
According to him, Austria strongly supports the start of Croatia's entry talks as soon as possible.
Franz Kerber, the managing director of Steiernaerkische Sparkasse, said "Croatia is playing a key role in further stabilisation of the region which is why the EU needs it".