SANADER IN BRATISLAVA SAYS CROATIA READY TO JOIN EU BY 2007 AND NATO EVEN EARLIER

ZAGREB, March 19 (Hina) - Croatia hopes that soon after this enlargement round it will meet condition for EU membership and join the union by 2007, Croatian Prime MInister Ivo Sanader said in Bratislava on Friday and added the country would be ready to join NATO even before that.#L# Sanader is taking part in a two-day international conference called "Towards the Enlagement of Europe: New Tasks" "Croatia remains the country of the 'second wave' and it is systematically preparing for the invitation for negotiations on joining the EU and NATO soon after the next enlargement round on May 1," Sander said. "Our objective -- ambitious but realistic -- is to meet conditions for EU membership by 2007 and for NATO even before thar," the Croatian PM said. During a debate on the integration of the Balkans into the EU, Sander told his counterparts from the Vilnius and Visegrad Groups that for Croatia, as well as for the entire region, there was no alternative to integration with Euro-Atlantic organisations. Sander said cooperation among the countries of the region was of extreme importance for progress towards the common objective. He said he saw Croatia as a stability factor in the region Commenting on the latest development of events in Kosovo and Serbia and Montenegro, Sanader said the southeast of Europe had unfortunately always been marked by uncertainty and instability. He said the best means for solving difficult and open issues was the process of integration of those areas into Euro-Atlantic structures. "This is Croatia's firm belief," said Sanader who used his speech to thank Slovak Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurindi for the word of support to Croatia during his speech. Commenting on the situation in the region, Dzurinda said Croatia's progress represented a turning point. He also called on NATO to take important steps to embrace Croatia, Macedonia and Albania at a summit in Istanbul. (Hina) it sb