ZAGREB, May 6 (Hina) - Upon his return from a diplomatic tour of north European countries on Saturday, Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula said his visit was important because the countries he visited had been very critical of
Croatia. "First of all, I wanted to present the depth and extent of political changes in Croatia after the elections. Doing that in the past five days was very important because North Europe was the area where the policy of the former authority had been very strongly criticised," Picula said upon his return from Norway, Sweden and Lithuania. Cooperation with those countries is not possible without respect for democratic standards, Picula added. According to him, representatives of the three countries expressed support for Croatia's admission to Euro-Atlantic integration processes. Apart from its political dimension, the visit also had an economic dimension and talks
ZAGREB, May 6 (Hina) - Upon his return from a diplomatic tour of
north European countries on Saturday, Croatian Foreign Minister
Tonino Picula said his visit was important because the countries he
visited had been very critical of Croatia.
"First of all, I wanted to present the depth and extent of political
changes in Croatia after the elections. Doing that in the past five
days was very important because North Europe was the area where the
policy of the former authority had been very strongly criticised,"
Picula said upon his return from Norway, Sweden and Lithuania.
Cooperation with those countries is not possible without respect
for democratic standards, Picula added.
According to him, representatives of the three countries expressed
support for Croatia's admission to Euro-Atlantic integration
processes.
Apart from its political dimension, the visit also had an economic
dimension and talks were held on the possibility of widening
cooperation between Croatia and the Nordic countries.
In Oslo Picula held talks at the Norwegian Trade Council.
Norway is interested in cooperation in the field of power industry,
agriculture and environmental protection, Picula said, adding
Norwegian officials announced that the Trade Council would open its
office in Zagreb soon.
Croatia's foreign minister also held talks with representatives of
the multinational telecommunications company Ericsson, who, he
said, had informed him of their business ambitions in Croatia.
During his visit to Lithuania, Picula signed an agreement on
avoiding double taxation.
Norway confirmed its readiness to help in the return of refugees as
well as in a mine clearance project.
Speaking about the existing visa regime for Scandinavian
countries, Picula said the cancellation of visa requirements for
Croatian diplomats travelling to Sweden opened the door to
resolving the visa regime issue on the level of the Nordic Council.
(hina) rml