The meeting was opened by Croatian Assistant Interior Minister Zarko Katic, who said that the Council had been monitoring its members over the past year, during which time "Slovenia entered the European Union, Bulgaria and Romania advanced towards membership, while Croatia took a step in the same direction by obtaining candidate status."
Katic said that the Council would analyse the activities of its task forces for planning and exercises, for standards and procedures, for information management and for information technology, and that it would also look into possibilities of setting up a regional information network.
Croatia became a Council member at a Council meeting in Sofia in April 2001. Cooperation within the Council is based on annual meetings, exercises and workshops where representatives of the member states develop specific forms of cooperation in all areas important for the prevention and elimination of the consequences of disasters.
The meeting is being attended by representatives of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Slovenia, Turkey and the United States.