SOFIA, May 7 (Hina) - Bulgaria and Croatia have excellent political relations and are mostly connected by their path to the EU, Bulgarian Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha said in Sofia on Wednesday after talks with his Croatian
counterpart, Ivica Racan.
SOFIA, May 7 (Hina) - Bulgaria and Croatia have excellent political
relations and are mostly connected by their path to the EU,
Bulgarian Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha said in Sofia on
Wednesday after talks with his Croatian counterpart, Ivica Racan.
#L#
"Croatia and Bulgaria are not mutually competitive on the path to
Brussels. They are countries which support and understand each
other well," Racan added at a news conference after the talks.
Croatia is currently one step behind Bulgaria which is already an
official candidate for joining the EU. But Croatia intends to end
the process of adjustment to the EU by 2006, Racan said, adding that
both countries advocated and supported the principle of individual
approach.
The Croatian PM said Croatia would not be a burden to any country on
its way towards the European Union.
Saxe-Coburg Gotha stressed Croatia and Bulgaria were stable
countries whose task was to contribute to the stability in the
region. Racan agreed.
The two prime ministers also agreed that Croatia and Bulgaria had
excellent political relations without problems, but that economic
cooperation left much to be desired. Last year's trade between the
two countries amounted to a modest $27 million.
During the meeting, Racan and Saxe-Coburg Gotha spoke about the
possibilities of cooperation in traffic and tourism.
Bulgaria will be country-partner at this year's Autumn Fair at
Zagreb Fair.
Croatian and Bulgarian Health Ministers Andro Vlahusic and Bojidar
Finkov today signed an agreement on cooperation in health and
medicine.
(hina) lml sb