GERMAN OFFICIAL SUPPORTS CROATIA'S ADMISSION TO EU

BRUSSELS, Feb 26 (Hina) - Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula met in Brussels on Wednesday with Christopher Palmer, a minister in charge of European issues at the government of the German federal state of Baden-Wuertemberg and chairman of the committee for EU enlargement at Bundesrat, the upper house of the German parliament. #L# The German official, who strongly advocates Croatia's integration with the EU, told Croatian reporters after the meeting that Croatia in no way belonged to the Western Balkans. Croatia does not belong to the Western Balkans due to its historical, cultural and economic features, he said, adding that countries in the region would have to wait a long time to join the EU. He called for the individual assessment of the countries' achievements. Croatia cannot wait ten or more years which is the time other countries in the region would need to draw closer to the EU, said Palmer, a member of the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU), the ruling party in Baden-Wuertemberg. Although it does support Croatia's association with the EU, Germany is not doing this strongly enough because it does not stress the importance of the year 2007 as the final deadline for Croatia being granted full membership. To make the German public more aware of the importance of 2007 as the deadline for Croatia's admission, on the day Croatia submitted its application for EU membership, February 21, Palmer published a commentary in Die Welt daily presenting arguments supporting his stand. He stated that Croatia was a bridge linking West and Central Europe on one side and the Balkan countries on the other, with the potential of heading the stabilisation of the Balkans. Palmer said that he would organise a presentation of Croatia as an EU candidate in the Baden-Wuertemberg office at the EU on July 10. Croatian European Integration Minister Neven Mimica is expected to attend the event. (hina) rml