EUROPEAN INTEGRATION MINISTER: CROATIA RECEIVED SUPPORT IN VIENNA

VIENNA, Dec 3 (Hina) - Croatia in Vienna received support for its independent and individual path in the process of drawing closer to the European Union, Croatian European Integration Minister Neven Mimica said in Vienna where he attended an international conference on the influence of EU's enlargement on business. #L# "Individual approach and the possibility of separating from a joint fate is something Croatia advocates, but also something for which Croatia has received great understanding from key participants at Europe's level," Mimica said. European Commissioner for the expansion of the EU Guenther Verheugen has singled out Croatia from the group of Western Balkan countries and advocated its individual path towards the European Union. Stability Pact Special Coordinator Erhard Busek has recommended that Croatia submit an application for membership to EU as soon as possible. Minister Mimica said Croatia had already completed a half of its five-year job in implementing the Stabilisation and Association Agreement which, as he stated, represented a serious fact which should be considered by everyone who was assessing Croatia's efforts. He said he had advocated that the overall processes of Southeast European countries' drawing closer to the EU and processes of stabilisation and association receive greater and more determined support from the EU. The international conference in Vienna, organised by the business magazine "The Economist", was attended by about 200 senior officials. (hina) it sb