Fisher said this to reporters after
talks with Croatian President Stjepan Mesic at whose invitation he was visiting
Croatia. During his day-long stay, Fisher will also hold talks with Prime
Minister Ivo Sanader and Parliament President Vladimir Seks.
"President Mesic and the entire Croatian population can be
confident that Austria will fully support Croatia on its path to the EU.
Austria also advocated that negotiations be launched next year and that they be
conducted by experts," Fisher told reporters after the talks with Mesic.
Commenting on bilateral relations, Mesic and Fisher said that
the two countries' relations were always based on a European, friendly spirit
and added Croatia and Austria would continue to cultivate those relations.
Fisher said that a significant share of foreign investments in Croatia came
from Austria and added that this was good for both countries.
The Austrian president hailed the practice of central European
heads of state who had been regularly meeting over the past several years and
expressed conviction that the fact that Croatia would hosting such a summit
next year would be of great importance for Croatia's admission into the EU.
Mesic told reporters he was satisfied with the talks and
stressed that the fact that the Austrian president had chosen Croatia to be one
of the first countries to visit after taking office showed the quality of the
two countries relations. He added however, there was still room for
progress.
"Austria and Croatia are not neighbouring countries, but we
have good neighbourly relations in every sense," Mesic said.
Mesic
said he hoped that Austrian soil would no longer be used for the solving of
Croatia's internal problems and that people would not wear WWII uniforms and
symbols that did not belong to anti-fascists at commemorations for WWII
victims. Meisc alluded to the commemorations in Bleiburg.
The Croatian president also mentioned Burgenland Croats and
said they were an important factor of the two countries' good relations.
"We are completely satisfied with the status of the Croatian
minority in Austria which is a bridge of cooperation between our two
countries," Mesic said.
The Croatian President thanked Fisher on Austria's support to
Croatia on the path of drawing closer to the EU and the support Vienna had been
sending to Croatia at the time Croatia had been fighting for its
independence.