ZAGREB, May 7 (Hina) - Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula, Defence Minister Zeljka Antunovic and the national coordinator for NATO, Zoran Milanovic, will visit the NATO headquarters in Brussels on Thursday as part of the first
regular meeting between NATO's North Atlantic Council and Croatia.
ZAGREB, May 7 (Hina) - Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula,
Defence Minister Zeljka Antunovic and the national coordinator for
NATO, Zoran Milanovic, will visit the NATO headquarters in Brussels
on Thursday as part of the first regular meeting between NATO's
North Atlantic Council and Croatia. #L#
The purpose of such meetings is to analyse the first cycle of the
Membership Action Plan (MAP), started in April 1999 with the aim of
helping NATO aspirants carry out the necessary preparations for
membership. The plan is a preparatory programme designed to assist
aspirants in meeting NATO standards.
Croatia joined the MAP last May, two years after it gained the
status of a NATO partner, i.e. after joining the Partnership for
Peace programme.
"We could say this is a copy of the political dialogue with the EU,
with an accentuated military component," an official source who
wished to stay anonymous told Hina on Wednesday.
The source pointed to criteria such as democratisation, reform of
the judiciary, the return of refugees and displaced persons and
cooperation with the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
Every country in the MAP is expected to submit an Annual National
Programme (ANP) with steps it intends to take in efforts to access
the organisation so tomorrow's meeting in Brussels will be an
opportunity to analyse Croatia's programme, submitted last
October. The ANP is a basis on which progress is monitored and
additional support provided.
(hina) lml sb