ROME, March 15 (Hina) - Croatia will be the one to set the date of its entry into the European Union based on its own achievements, European Commission President Romano Prodi said in an interview with the Saturday issue of Italian
daily Il Piccolo.
ROME, March 15 (Hina) - Croatia will be the one to set the date of its
entry into the European Union based on its own achievements,
European Commission President Romano Prodi said in an interview
with the Saturday issue of Italian daily Il Piccolo. #L#
Asked if Zagreb would join the EU in 2007, Prodi said he could not
speak about dates.
"We have said that each country will enter on its own merit and based
on this, Croatia alone determines its entry date. If it can run, it
will be able to make it by 2007. What we want is a certain minimum of
standards which all countries have to meet."
As regards the position of the Italian minority in Croatia, Prodi
said the same high standards of protection would be demanded as in
the case of Baltic countries for the Russian minority. "The
protection of minorities is one of the fundamental issues," he
said, adding "the Italian minority in Croatia will certainly work
towards Croatia's development".
Prodi said the enlargement of the EU was progressing well, but that
now "is the time for a new phase".
"The countries to which the EU will expand have to fill
institutions, change their internal structures, improve the
economy where it is backward, while even bigger tasks are ahead of
us. We have to be equally serious and open in approaching two
countries whose entry is envisaged for 2007, namely Romania and
Bulgaria. We have to open dialogue with Croatia, and the Turkish
issue is still open."
Commenting on the recent assassination of Serbian Prime Minister
Zoran Djindjic, Prodi said Serbia was rife with tensions "in the
field of politics". He was hopeful this would not again destabilise
Serbia which he said had made great headway after the ousting of
former President Slobodan Milosevic.
Speaking of economy, Prodi said the ports in the northern Adriatic -
- Monfalcone, Trieste, Koper, Rijeka -- should become organised as
those in the north of Europe around Hamburg and Rotterdam.
It defies logic that Budapest should still send its commodities to
Hamburg, he said, but conceded the reorganisation of ports in the
northern Adriatic might also be late in taking place due to certain
feelings in Trieste that had not been overcome yet.
"Trieste bears deep scars from World War Two. I'm referring to the
40 days of occupation by Tito's troops. True reconciliation has not
really happened," he said.
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