FOREIGN MINISTRY OFFERS CONGRATULATIONS TO EU MEMBER-STATES FOR 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF ROME AGREEMENTS

FOR 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF ROME AGREEMENTS ZAGREB, 25 March (Hina) - On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Rome Agreements, which set the main directions for European integration processes, the Croatian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday offered congratulations to all European Union member-states, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Forty years ago, on 25 March 1957, the European Economic Community and European Community for Atomic Energy (EUROATOM) were founded in Rome. With the Rome Agreements, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Germany set the main directions for European integration processes and founded a united Europe market. The European Union of today faces various challenges. A summit of the European Union in Amsterdam in June this year and the completion of the Inter-Government conference will offer an opportunity for new decisions concerning the widening of the European Union, the Foreign Ministry statement said. The statement reiterated Croatia's readiness to follow and adopt highest European standards and criteria of democratic development in its development. Croatia's political, economic and social achievements prove its commitment to that aim, the statement said. The further institutionalisation of its relations with the European Union, as the central institution of Euro-Atlantic integration processes, will prove that Croatia is a Central European country and active partner in uniting Europe at the beginning of the third millennium. (hina) rm 251917 MET mar 97