BUDAPEST, Oct 19 (Hina) - Croatia and Hungary have very mature political relations whose greatest success is that they prove that countries can cooperate at a European level, although not yet formally in the European Union, Croatian
Foreign Minister Tonino Picula said in Budapest Thursday after talks with his Hungarian counterpart Janos Martony. Picula is a member of a Croatian state delegation visiting Hungary since Wednesday. The relations between Croatia and Hungary show a high degree of compliance in foreign affairs goals, Picula told reporters. He asserted the good bilateral relations were of great multilateral importance. With 55 already signed agreements, declarations and protocols, Croatia and Hungary can say they have a developed legal infrastructure, Picula said. "All that remains is the signing of the 56th document -- a free trade agreement -- for which I believe will be signed soon, after
BUDAPEST, Oct 19 (Hina) - Croatia and Hungary have very mature
political relations whose greatest success is that they prove that
countries can cooperate at a European level, although not yet
formally in the European Union, Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino
Picula said in Budapest Thursday after talks with his Hungarian
counterpart Janos Martony.
Picula is a member of a Croatian state delegation visiting Hungary
since Wednesday.
The relations between Croatia and Hungary show a high degree of
compliance in foreign affairs goals, Picula told reporters.
He asserted the good bilateral relations were of great multilateral
importance. With 55 already signed agreements, declarations and
protocols, Croatia and Hungary can say they have a developed legal
infrastructure, Picula said.
"All that remains is the signing of the 56th document -- a free trade
agreement -- for which I believe will be signed soon, after an offer
from the Hungarian side which relies on CEFTA (Central European
Free Trade Agreement) criteria," he stressed.
Hungary's Martony also stressed the need for the free trade
agreement to be signed, after years of negotiations, with the only
obstacle being the import and export quotas for agricultural
products of the two countries.
However, a suggestion relayed by Hungary at the latest meeting in
Zagreb last month, based on CEFTA standards, could remove the
stalemate and result in the signing of the agreement soon.
According to Picula, the signing of the agreement would show
Croatia's two priorities -- a confirmation that the free trade
system was the chief strategy of Croatia's economic diplomacy, and
the opening of the gates for Croatia into Central Europe's free
trade system CEFTA.
"Our central European identity is very important to us as part of
Croatian foreign affairs overall identity," Picula asserted.
The two foreign ministers also tackled the development of the
situation in the wake of last month's elections in Yugoslavia.
Croatia is interested in stabilisation and democracy in
Yugoslavia, but also in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Picula said.
"Croatia will normalise and develop relations with Yugoslavia as
much as relations within Yugoslavia itself normalise," he
asserted.
(hina) lml