During her one-day visit to Madrid, Grabar Kitarovic held talks with Spanish Parliament President Manuel Marino Gonzales, who negotiated Spain's admission to the EU, and State Secretary for European Affairs Albert Navarro.
"Spain's support to Croatia will be of great importance for Croatia's joining the European Union, notably when it comes to using pre-accession assistance in which Spain was very successful," the Croatian minister told Hina over the phone.
Croatia became an EU candidate country in June, and on October 6 the European Commission revealed a pre-accession strategy suggesting that Zagreb be given EUR245 million from pre-accession funds over the next two years.
Manuel Marino Gonzales informed Grabar Kitarovic of Spain's experience from the negotiating process, while she acquainted him with the course of Croatia's process of integration to the European Union.
State Secretary Navarro expressed Spain's readiness to share its experience and help Croatia in the negotiating process and stressed the importance of the Mediterranean dimension within the EU, spokeswoman for the Croatian European Integration Ministry Ivana Ceric told Hina over the telephone.
Later today, the Croatian minister is scheduled to give a talk on Croatia's European integration process and the use of pre-accession funds.