ZAGREB, Oct 11 (Hina) - Croatia must join the EU very soon and the objective is that this happens at the same time when Bulgaria and Romania enter it, a member of the European Parliament and president of the international Paneuropean
Union, Otto von Habsburg said in Zagreb on Saturday.
ZAGREB, Oct 11 (Hina) - Croatia must join the EU very soon and the
objective is that this happens at the same time when Bulgaria and
Romania enter it, a member of the European Parliament and president
of the international Paneuropean Union, Otto von Habsburg said in
Zagreb on Saturday. #L#
Von Habsburg said this after a meeting with Croatian Deputy Prime
Minister Ante Simonic, held ahead of a session of the 8th annual
assembly of the Croatian Paneuropean union.
"We are thinking the same -- namely that Croatia must join the EU
very soon," Von Habsburg told reporters.
"This will be a demanding task, but this is why we are here," he
added.
The European parlaimentarian expressed conviction that Croatia
would join the EU in four year.
"We have several good friends, such as European enlargement
commissioner Guenther Verheugen, and this is one of the reasons of
my conviction in the success," Von Habsburg said.
Deputy PM Simonic said that the meeting focused on what needed to be
done to receive the international logistic support for Croatia's
bids to join the EU.
Expressing satisfaction with the current developments, Simonic
said he believed Croatia would join the EU along with Romania and
Bulgaria.
According to him, the talks also focused on problems in connection
with proclaiming a fishing and ecological zone in the Adriatic and
the Generl Gotovina case, namely its impact on the process of
Croatia's drawing closer to the EU.
"We believe Croatia is on the right path," Simonic said after talks
with Von Habsburg who opened the session of the Croatian
Paneuropean Union with his speech.
The session, entitled "Croatia 2007", is attended by presidents and
representatives of about a dozen of national Paneuropean
organisations.
The session will focused on the current situation in Croatia in
connection with the process of drawing closer to the EU and what
needs to be done in order to be granted full membership of the EU by
2007.
Assistant European Integration Minister Visnja Samardzija also
spoke at the session. The presence of the Croatian parliament
president, Zlatko Tomcic, European Integration Minister Neven
Mimica and the head of the European Commission delegation to
Croatia, Jacques Wunenburger, was also announced by they cancelled
their participation just ahead of the session.
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