Congratulating Rehn on his appointment as an EC member, Seks expressed hope that the EC would continue supporting Croatia's efforts to join the European Union as soon as possible. He informed Rehn of the measures the parliament was taking as part of preparations for EU membership and expressed hope that the establishment of a joint Croatian-EU parliamentary committee would strengthen ties between the two institutions and contribute to Croatia's readiness to join the EU.
The Sabor will soon start a debate on the role of parliament in negotiations with the EU considering the possibility of parliamentary control of the negotiations and the adoption of negotiating platforms, Seks said.
The parliament speaker gave the EC official strong assurances that Croatia was seriously analysing the latest reports of the UN war crimes tribunal's president and chief prosecutor.
He said that "we cannot agree with the part of the chief prosecutor's report stating that a part of the state administration is involved in the obstruction of cooperation with the tribunal", confirming that all Croatian institutions would consistently and fully meet their obligations in line with the Constitutional Law on Cooperation with the ICTY. Seks said he could guarantee that no segment of the parliament was participating in any kind of obstruction of the cooperation.
Rehn said that his visit to Zagreb was prompted by Croatia's political and economic progress which made it an example to other countries in the region. By this we are sending a clear message that we support Croatia's integration with the EU, Rehn said.
Welcoming the news about the establishment of the joint parliamentary committee and adjustment of national legislation to EU standards, Rehn said that the EC was ready to start negotiations as soon as it was given the green light by the European Council. He expressed satisfaction with the fact that Croatia was taking its cooperation with the Hague tribunal seriously and urged the authorities to do their utmost to solve the remaining case of General Ante Gotovina, the statement said.
European Commissioner Rehn was received by President Stjepan Mesic, the President's Office said in a statement.
The two sides agreed that Croatia had made significant progress in recent years, particularly with regard to refugee return and the reform of the public administration and the judiciary.
Rehn recalled that cooperation with the Hague tribunal was one of the necessary preconditions for the start of accession talks with the EU and that if Croatia established full cooperation, the accession talks were expected to start in spring next year.