ZAGREB, Sept 15 (Hina) - At the end of his diplomatic mandate in Zagreb, United States Ambassador to Croatia William Dale Montgomery wished Croatia a lot of success on its path towards full integration with western institutions.
Ambassador Montgomery on Monday said he believed the doors to western institutions were wide open for Croatia. "Right now, you have every possibility to leap ahead of almost every other country in the region in progress towards the Euro-Atlantic institutions. And nothing now is standing in your way," outgoing Ambassador Montgomery said after talks with Croatian President Stipe Mesic. Montgomery took over his duty in Zagreb on January 3rd, 1998. When asked whether his expectations, with which he arrived in Croatia in 1998, have been met, Montgomery said yes. "When I came to Croatia, I received a lot of briefings from a lot of different people, a lot of so-called experts on Croatia, a
ZAGREB, Sept 15 (Hina) - At the end of his diplomatic mandate in
Zagreb, United States Ambassador to Croatia William Dale
Montgomery wished Croatia a lot of success on its path towards full
integration with western institutions.
Ambassador Montgomery on Monday said he believed the doors to
western institutions were wide open for Croatia.
"Right now, you have every possibility to leap ahead of almost every
other country in the region in progress towards the Euro-Atlantic
institutions. And nothing now is standing in your way," outgoing
Ambassador Montgomery said after talks with Croatian President
Stipe Mesic.
Montgomery took over his duty in Zagreb on January 3rd, 1998.
When asked whether his expectations, with which he arrived in
Croatia in 1998, have been met, Montgomery said yes.
"When I came to Croatia, I received a lot of briefings from a lot of
different people, a lot of so-called experts on Croatia, and most of
these briefings were very, very negative on what to expect here. And
within the first month of arriving in Croatia and seeing for myself,
I saw very, very clearly Croatia was western-oriented and fully
belonged in Euro-Atlantic structures and that (it) would be able to
make a very rapid progress in reaching of those goals," Montgomery
stressed.
President Mesic awarded Montgomery with high Croatian
decorations.
At the end of his mandate, Ambassador Montgomery wished Croatia all
the best for the future, adding his entire family had "a wonderful
experience in Croatia".
"Although we tried our best to work hard for both the United States
and Croatia to improve our bilateral relations, I think that what we
received from Croatia and the Croatian people was far, far more than
we could ever give back and we are very grateful for that,"
Montgomery said.
"I think I can speak on behalf of my entire family when I say that
Croatia will remain a part of our lives from now on," the second
United States Ambassador to Croatia said at the end of his mandate.
He expressed hope the United States Senate would confirm his
successor Lawrence Rossin this month already.
Before his mandate in Zagreb, Montgomery served in Belgrade,
Moscow, Dar es Salaam and twice in Bulgaria, including a mandate in
Sofia between 1993 and 1996. Until his arrival in Croatia,
Montgomery was a special advisor with the State Department for
Bosnia-Herzegovina.
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