ZAGREB, Jan 17 (Hina) - The prime ministers of Italy, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia met for the Quadrilaterale Summit in Zagreb on Friday. In a joint statement issued after the meeting, the prime ministers said they would give full
support to Croatia's bids to enter the European Union.
ZAGREB, Jan 17 (Hina) - The prime ministers of Italy, Hungary,
Slovenia and Croatia met for the Quadrilaterale Summit in Zagreb on
Friday. In a joint statement issued after the meeting, the prime
ministers said they would give full support to Croatia's bids to
enter the European Union. #L#
"Having in mind Croatia's intention to join the EU, they reaffirmed
their intention to fully support Croatia during this process,"
reads a joint statement called the Zagreb Declaration, released
after the meeting.
Prime Ministers Ivica Racan, Silvio Berlusconi, Peter Magyessy and
Anton Rop expressed their firm conviction that by continuing the
Zagreb Process in Thessaloniki the European Union would lend a new
dimension to the Stabilisation and Association Process and
encourage the countries in the region to continue their reforms
with a clear EU membership perspective.
"The Prime Ministers expressed their expectation that the
forthcoming Thessaloniki Summit of the EU and SAP countries
(Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Yugoslavia, Macedonia and Albania)
will provide incentive for further rapprochement based on
individual merits, but also taking into account regional
cooperation...".
The four prime ministers also welcomed NATO's latest round of
enlargement launched at the Prague Summit and reiterated the
importance of the continuation of NATO's open door policy for the
aspiring countries. PMs Madgyessy, Berlusconi and Rop expressed
full support for Croatia's bids to join NATO.
Today's summit tackled political, economic and security issues in
Europe, which are of great importance for the Quadrilaterale
countries, reads the Zagreb Declaration. Bearing in mind the
importance of the expansion of the EU and NATO, the prime ministers
confirmed their readiness to intensify mutual consultations with
the aim of stregthening the group's ability to participate in Euro-
Atlantic structures.
The Quadrilaterale, a forum for regional co-operation between
Italy, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia, was established on September
13, 2000, when Croatia joined the trilateral group Italy-Slovenia-
Hungary at a meeting of the countries' prime ministers in Italy's
Godollo. This group was founded at Italy's initiative in 1996.
The main task of the group is mutual support in the process of
European integration.
During 2001 the group's activities were co-ordinated by Italy,
while Croatia took over coordination tasks for 2002 at a summit in
November 2001 in Trieste.
During Croatia's presidency of the group in 2002 the culture
ministers and customs administration heads of the member-countries
held meetings.
In July 2002 Dubrovnik hosted a meeting of the Quadrilaterale's
deputy foreign ministers and in November the same year Zagreb
hosted a meeting of the labour and welfare ministers.
(hina) rml sb