PICULA: PRIORITIES OF CROATIA'S FOREIGN POLICY, EU'S PLANS IDENTICAL

ZAGREB, April 28 (Hina) - The priorities of Croatia's foreign policy and the intentions of the European Union toward the whole south-east Europe are identical - speeding up the process of integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions and improving the political and economic cooperation in the region, Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula said in Zagreb on Friday. Speaking at the beginning of a two-day conference entitled "50 Years of the Schuman Declaration: What is the Message for South- East Europe," which is held at the European House in Zagreb, Picula recalled that the international community had last year offered a new beginning to countries in the region with two political instruments - the Stability Pact and the Process of Stabilisation and Association with the European Union. The vision of a European Croatia is the foundation of the country's foreign policy, Picula said, adding the political goals the EU wanted to achieve with those two instruments were also the priorities of the Croatian government. "The first goal is speeding up the integration of south-east European countries into the EU and a wider Euro-Atlantic community, and the second one is improving the political and economic cooperation in the region," Picula said. In that regard, Croatia has set two goals - the long-term goal is to make up for the lost years in the process of drawing closer to the EU, whereas the short-term goal envisages the beginning of talks on the signing of a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU as early as this year. "Croatia wants to be the model of success in this region," European Integration Minister Ivan Jakovcic said in his speech, adding the process of opening a political dialogue with the EU had finally begun with the democratic changes in Croatia, after the country had wasted a decade in comparison to other countries in transition. Jakovcic said preparations for opening talks with the EU on the Agreement on Stabilisation and Association were underway. He expressed hope that "after the completion of those talks, perhaps in the first half of next year, Croatia will become an associate EU member." The two-day conference is held on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the so-called "Schuman Declaration," which marked the beginning of the future European community, that is, of the united Europe. The then French foreign minister Robert Schuman on May 9 1950 announced a relatively short document in which, only five years after the end of World War II and on behalf of the French government, he proposed a concept of joining the German and French coal and steel production. The idea behind this concept was to use economic cooperation for preventing any future war between the two countries, which were once extremely hostile toward each other. (hina) mm rml