ZAGREB, May 13 (Hina) - Croatia and Slovakia have similar problems and interests and they are oriented towards bilateral cooperation, Croatian Defence Minister Zeljka Antunovic and her Slovak counterpart Ivan Simko announced during
talks in Zagreb on Tuesday.
ZAGREB, May 13 (Hina) - Croatia and Slovakia have similar problems
and interests and they are oriented towards bilateral cooperation,
Croatian Defence Minister Zeljka Antunovic and her Slovak
counterpart Ivan Simko announced during talks in Zagreb on Tuesday.
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In this context the two ministers announced possible joint
participation in peace operations in Cyprus and East Timor.
"There is a great level of compatibility between Slovakia and
Croatia which directs us towards cooperation," Antunovic told
reporters after her meeting with the Slovak guest.
"We talked about concrete forms of cooperation between Croatia and
Slovakia in international peace missions," she said, adding that
concrete agreements should be reached by expert groups.
In this context, Antunovic said there was interest in joint
participation in peace missions in Cyprus and East Timor.
The defence minister of Slovakia said his country supported Croatia
in its bids to come closer to European integration processes.
"I would like to see both Slovakia and Croatia as NATO and EU members
so that we could support each other," Simko said, adding that Zagreb
could always count on Slovakia's support.
Antunovic and Simko also talked about security issues in the
creation of a new European security architecture and experience in
ongoing reforms in the countries' defence sectors.
Slovakia is to become a full member of the EU in May 2004, and was
invited to join NATO at the alliance's summit in Prague last
November.
(hina) ms