BRUSSELS, Feb 19 (Hina) - The European Union (EU) is satisfied with developments in Croatia, in both the political and economic sense, Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Pique, the current chairman of the EU Council of Ministers, said in
Brussels on Tuesday.
BRUSSELS, Feb 19 (Hina) - The European Union (EU) is satisfied with
developments in Croatia, in both the political and economic sense,
Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Pique, the current chairman of the
EU Council of Ministers, said in Brussels on Tuesday.#L#
Pique talked to reporters after a meeting between a Croatian
delegation headed by Foreign Minister Tonino Picula and the EU
troika, the second such meeting held as part of a political dialogue
the EU and Croatia institutionalised during the signing of a
Stabilisation and Association Agreement.
The European Commission is satisfied with the progress Croatia has
made in trade liberalisation and the reform of state
administration, the Union's foreign affairs commissioner, Chris
Patten, told a joint news conference.
He announced for mid-April the first session of the Interim
Committee, a joint Croatia-EU body supervising the implementation
of an interim trade agreement, and confirmed the EC would issue by
the end of March a report on Croatia's progress in connection with
this agreement.
Patten said the Council of Ministers should discuss the report in
April or May.
Pique thanked the Croatian government on its constructive role in
encouraging stability and democracy in the region, and added the
European side was interested in Croatia's refugee return
programme.
According to Foreign Minister Picula, today's meeting saw probably
fewer complaints about Croatia than ever before.
The EU praised the Croatian government's activities highly, he
said, adding Brussels was at present most concerned about the
situation in Croatia's neighbourhood.
Picula said he had requested additional EU funds for the Croatian
refugee return programme.
Speaking about political stability at home, a prerequisite for a
successful implementation of reforms and commitments, the foreign
minister said "nothing that could endanger the reforms is happening
at this moment."
"Political stability is not disputable, the ruling coalition, at
the middle of its mandate, will now assess what has been done and
arrange the resumption of implementation of programmes," he said.
Later this afternoon Picula will meet European Parliament
president Pato Cox, and the Union's high representative for the
common defence and security policy, Javier Solana.
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