A member of the European Parliament and head of the Social Democrats in the European Parliament, Hannes Swoboda, said the start of Croatia's EU entry talks was an important sign and an encouragement to countries in the region.
Swoboda said that Austria's great support to the launching of Croatia's EU entry talks was right and that Croatia and the EU faced a difficult process of negotiation in all areas, but that it would be possible to reach the end of that road with good will and commitment on the part of the Croatian government.
He described the situation in the Balkans as positive, but added that it was still far from being satisfactory because of numerous outstanding issues. He added that it would be good for Podgorica to set clear rules for a referendum on independence.
Kosovo is a difficult problem, Swoboda said, expressing confidence that granting the province independence would solve the problem. Any reasonable politician must know that constant problems can be expected if efforts are made to keep Kosovo part of Serbia at any cost, Swoboda said.
He stressed the importance of the seminar, saying that it had provided an opportunity to define problems and ways to solve them. The seminar is also important in light of the fact that Austria will take over the presidency of the EU on 1 January 2006, Swoboda said.
A deputy speaker of the Croatian parliament and president of the Croatian People's Party (HNS), Vesna Pusic, spoke about the topic "Society, Education and Culture". Croatia has made major progress in its political maturation in recent years and it is in its interest to see other countries in the region meet European standards as soon as possible, Pusic said, advocating greater cooperation in the region and wider.
The Vienna seminar was organised by the Austrian Renner Institute, the nongovernmental organisation Society Bosnia-Herzegovina 2005 and the London School of Economics.