ZAGREB, March 28 (Hina) - Portugal has in this semester, as the country chairing the European Union, invested considerable efforts in developing and stabilising new relations between Zagreb and Brussels, Croatian Foreign Minister
Tonino Picula said on Tuesday after meeting his Portuguese counterpart Jaime Gama. The Portuguese minister is on a visit to Zagreb as a member of the EU Troika, which also includes EU's high envoy for foreign and security policy Javier Solana and the director of the French Foreign Ministry's department for Europe, Huges Pernet. "We are grateful to the EU Portuguese Presidency, which in this semester has invested significant efforts to advance and stabilise relations between the EU and Croatia," Picula said, adding the current period would be judged as crucial in finding new forms of cooperation between countries in transition and the EU. Gama said the EU wa
ZAGREB, March 28 (Hina) - Portugal has in this semester, as the
country chairing the European Union, invested considerable efforts
in developing and stabilising new relations between Zagreb and
Brussels, Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula said on Tuesday
after meeting his Portuguese counterpart Jaime Gama.
The Portuguese minister is on a visit to Zagreb as a member of the EU
Troika, which also includes EU's high envoy for foreign and
security policy Javier Solana and the director of the French
Foreign Ministry's department for Europe, Huges Pernet.
"We are grateful to the EU Portuguese Presidency, which in this
semester has invested significant efforts to advance and stabilise
relations between the EU and Croatia," Picula said, adding the
current period would be judged as crucial in finding new forms of
cooperation between countries in transition and the EU.
Gama said the EU wanted Croatia to be the flagship country in the
region in the process of approaching the EU. This visit, he said, is
an opportunity for the EU delegation to show the EU's commitment to
Croatia, support institutional and economic reforms and the
country's democratic opening, as well as to accelerate the process
which will inevitably lead to Croatia's integration into the EU,
Gama said.
Gama added the two sides should move forward from the current level
of relations - from cooperation to talks on an agreement on
stabilisation and association.
Picula greeted the EU's approach to register individual efforts of
every country in the region to adopt the necessary standards.
He announced that the EU would soon secure easier access to the EU
market for the economies of countries in transition through
asymmetrical liberalisation.
"The process of stabilisation and association is of crucial
importance for the transformation of South-East Europe. In that
process, Croatia sees an opportunity to affirm the orientation of
its foreign policy, which is, to join Euro-Atlantic associations
and strengthen its policy of good neighbourly relations," Picula
said.
(hina) mm rml