The Croatian minister and his colleagues from the other three EU candidate countries attended a working lunch of the EU's 25 foreign ministers, who gathered today for a two-day informal meeting at St. Gerlach Castle in Valkenburg near Maastricht.
Zuzul met his Slovene counterpart Ivo Vajgl, who he said was among the many ministers who welcomed Croatia's participating in an EU ministerial meeting for the first time.
Croatia and Slovenia have so much in common that it is absurd to create problems "over the few outstanding issues", Zuzul said.
Asked to comment on the Protected Ecological and Fishing Zone in the Adriatic going into force on October 3 (not applying to EU member-states) and on Slovene ships sailing under foreign flags, Zuzul said he would call a meeting to discuss that issue.
The purpose of the Protected Ecological and Fishing Zone is not to "make the situation for neighbouring countries more difficult, but to protect the Adriatic, which is a common goal of Croatia, Slovenia and Italy, as well as the entire European Union," Zuzul said.
Asked about border demarcation in Savudrija Bay, which was not addressed at the meeting with Vajgl, Zuzul said Zagreb believed that the sea border should be defined on the basis of how the land border was defined.
"The Drnovsek-Racan agreement, which Slovenes sometimes refer to, is not good, both in terms of law and in terms of the content, because an agreement cannot be good if it results in deteriorated relations," the minister said, adding that he believed the issue would have to be solved through arbitration.
Zuzul also held brief meetings with Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot, Franco Frattini of Italy, Eduard Kukan of Slovakia, Brian Cowen of Ireland, Antonio Menteiro of Portugal and Jean Asselborn of Luxembourg. He also met EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Defence Policy Javier Solana.
At the meeting with Asselborn, it was mentioned that talks on Croatia's EU membership would start most probably in March, Zuzul said.
Croatia will determine its negotiating team in a week's or two weeks' time, after which it will determine its negotiating strategy, the minister said.
The European Commission has announced that it will present the pre-accession strategy for Croatia on October 6. The task of drawing up the strategy was entrusted to the European Council after Croatia was granted candidate status in Brussels on June 18.