ZAGREB, July 5 (Hina) - Time has come to complement good and active political relations between Croatia and Bulgaria with concrete economic results, Bulgarian President Georgi Prvanov said, among other things, in his address to the
Croatian parliament on Friday.
ZAGREB, July 5 (Hina) - Time has come to complement good and active
political relations between Croatia and Bulgaria with concrete
economic results, Bulgarian President Georgi Prvanov said, among
other things, in his address to the Croatian parliament on Friday.
#L#
"The peoples of Bulgaria and Croatia have traditionally good
friendly relations... Solid historical foundations, general
values and ideals, common European prospects, and the internal
stability of Bulgaria and Croatia offer great possibilities for the
development of bilateral relations... Time has obviously come when
active political dialogue should lead to concrete results in
trade," Prvanov said, adding that the current bilateral trade
totalling some eight million dollars could not be satisfactory for
either side. He expressed hope the situation could soon be improved
with a free trade agreement.
Improving trade requires better traffic connections between the
two countries, which is part of a wider problem of infrastructural
development in the region, he said.
Welcoming Croatia's economic progress and rapprochement to the
European Union and NATO, Prvanov said Bulgaria and Croatia "are
able to generate security and stability in South-East Europe, which
is of special importance for achieving strategic goals - joining a
united and stable Europe".
The situation in South-East Europe seems to reflect the Croatian-
Bulgarian relations, Prvanov said, adding that there was a
discrepancy between political and economic relations, the
modernisation of infrastructure, and the implementation of
infrastructure projects.
Promising Bulgaria's support for Croatia's efforts to join the EU
and NATO, Prvanov said his country expected to receive an
invitation to join NATO at a summit in Prague at the end of this
year. He also hopes that talks on EU membership will be completed by
the end of 2003.
The Bulgarian president is on a four-day official visit to Croatia.
He is also expected to visit the northern Adriatic island of
Brijuni.
(hina) rml