MUNICH, May 20 (Hina) - Croatia does not see itself as a country begging for membership in the EU but as an active member that is prepared to offer its full contribution to the Union, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said at a lecture
entitled "Croatia's Future in Europe" which was held in Munich on Tuesday.
MUNICH, May 20 (Hina) - Croatia does not see itself as a country
begging for membership in the EU but as an active member that is
prepared to offer its full contribution to the Union, Croatian
President Stjepan Mesic said at a lecture entitled "Croatia's
Future in Europe" which was held in Munich on Tuesday. #L#
Croatia's public and a large number of political parties support
Croatia's European orientation to the greatest extent, even though
the largest opposition party, the Croatian Democratic Union, is
sending out different signals -- on the one hand its leaders claim
that their loyalty to a united Europe cannot be questioned, while on
the other, when the Croatian parliament was deciding on the
ratification on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, that
party was opposed to it, Mesic pointed out.
Based on the majority political and public support, Croatia applied
for membership in the European Union, he added. "Croatia's economic
indicators are good, and currently we are involved with demanding
reforms in legislation, and Croatia is progressing in this field as
well," he said.
Croatia is experiencing certain problems with meeting some
political conditions -- cooperation with the Hague tribunal,
refugee returns and property returns, Mesic said. "However, we will
fulfil these conditions completely."
"We can offer Croatia to Europe as a foothold for building peace and
stability in the region, for establishing wider regional
cooperation without moving away from the principle of an individual
evaluation of and an individual approach to the Union by each
applicant country," Mesic said.
He reiterated the Croatian state leadership's stance that by the
end of 2006, Croatia will fulfil all the necessary political
conditions for membership in the EU.
The lecture was held in a completely full hall in Munich's most
prestigious hotel, the Bayericher Hof, under the auspices of the
Herbert Quandt Foundation, which is financed by BMW.
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