ZAGREB, May 27 (Hina) - The European Commission has clearly stated that a united Europe will be complete only when South-eastern European countries join it, with Croatia, being the most developed country in the region, serving as a
model. In order to access the European Union, all forces in the country should be mobilised, two Croatian parliamentary committees concluded Tuesday.
ZAGREB, May 27 (Hina) - The European Commission has clearly stated
that a united Europe will be complete only when South-eastern
European countries join it, with Croatia, being the most developed
country in the region, serving as a model. In order to access the
European Union, all forces in the country should be mobilised, two
Croatian parliamentary committees concluded Tuesday. #L#
Committees on foreign affairs and European integration, chaired by
Zdravko Tomac and Mate Granic, convened today to discuss the EU's
new policy towards South-eastern Europe, pursuant to an EC
suggestion of last Wednesday that the EU and countries of the
Western Balkans should establish partnership relations.
The motion, which should be adopted by the European Union's Council
and the European Parliament, for the first time clearly states that
the EU's goal is to admit Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia,
Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro as full members.
The motion envisages a new package of financial and technical
assistance, based on the pre-admission experience of countries
which today are candidates for EU membership.
The EC also insists on the strengthening of all forms of regional
cooperation, so while evaluating Croatia, it will thoroughly
examine its readiness for regional cooperation.
The motion includes a free trade zone, which is not completely a
clear term, participants in the session said, including Deputy
Foreign Minister Ivan Simonovic.
There is no room for fear, Integration Minister Neven Mimica said.
There are no political connotations in the proposal, since Croatia
signed bilateral agreements with each country in the Western
Balkans, and, as the most developed, has the greatest chances of
benefiting from free trade agreements, he stressed.
Most participants in the session believe, however, that this new
suggestion for the Western Balkans is not in fact new. The only
change is that it was made at a time when Serbian Prime Minister
Zoran Zivkovic said that Serbia could integrate the Bosnian Serb
entity into Serbia to compensate for Kosovo's possible
independence.
In the light of such statements, the EC wants to do everything to
open up borders in the region of the Western Balkans and eliminate
pressures to change the borders, said Tomac.
The only right way is for each of these countries to draw closer to
the EU on their own and all problems will be solved as soon as they
enter the EU, he said.
The president of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Ivo Sanader,
warned about an imminent problem of Croatia being caught in a cleft
stick -- with the Schengen border to the west, towards Slovenia, and
permeable borders to the east, towards Western Balkan countries,
from where narcotics and illegal aliens and goods are coming in.
Because of the country's permeable borders to the east, the border
to the west is being closed off, Sanader said, adding that Croatia
should take the issue into consideration and warn its "friends" in
the EU and European Parliament about it.
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