ZAGREB, April 13 (Hina) - Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula on Sunday spoke about the country's current foreign policy at a forum of a senior body of the Social Democratic Party's (SDP) youth association.
ZAGREB, April 13 (Hina) - Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula
on Sunday spoke about the country's current foreign policy at a
forum of a senior body of the Social Democratic Party's (SDP) youth
association. #L#
The minister stated that differences among European countries over
the Iraqi crisis would not affect the process of Croatia's
admission to the European Union. Commenting on a Croatian-Bosnian
agreement on the use of Croatia's southern port of Ploce, he said
the agreement would not be implemented if citizens were against it
and that a protocol partially redefining the agreement had been
opened.
The Iraqi crisis has imposed the need to redefine some foreign
policy goals in 2003, so achieving them would require a policy of
small steps rather than big ones, Picula said.
He stressed that the pace of Croatia's admission to the EU would
depend on the country's ability to implement reforms which would be
under increasingly close scrutiny, and not on the attitude of
European countries towards the Iraqi crisis. "We hope that we will
definitely join the EU by the end of this decade," he added.
According to current opinion polls, 76% of all citizens support
Croatia's joining the EU, but their support will probably wane once
the implementation of some reform measures starts, as citizens "may
feel that we are giving more than we are receiving".
Commenting on the visa regime towards Serbia and Montenegro, Picula
said that cancelling visa requirements was an objective, but it
would depend on police information about the security situation.
(hina) rml