On Monday, Grabar-Kitarovic visited the Canadian Foreign Ministry in Ottawa where she met Deputy Foreign Minister Peter Harder, the Director-General of the Department for the EU, Northern and Western Europe, Norbert Kalisch, and the Director-General for Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, David Preston.
The Croatian minister said that in December Croatia expected to receive an exact date for the start of entry talks with the EU and that the talks might start in March or April 2005, sources at the Croatian Embassy in Ottawa told Hina in Washington.
The Canadian officials welcomed the efforts Croatia was making on the path to EU membership, saying that they would also have a positive impact on relations between Canada and Croatia. They further said that Croatia had become a model for other countries of Southeast Europe and stressed the importance of Croatia's efforts to promote regional cooperation.
Grabar-Kitarovic called on Canada to boost its investment in the Croatian economy, saying that now was the right time for investing in Croatia.
Grabar-Kitarovic also visited the Canadian Parliament where she met Senator Lorna Milne, head of the parliamentary Canada-Europe Association. The talks also focused on Croatia's progress towards EU membership.
On Sunday, Grabar-Kitarovic visited Toronto where she met representatives of the Croatian emigrant community in Canada.
The talks in Toronto and Ottawa were attended by Croatian Charge d'Affaires Ante Barbir.