The cooperation in education began ten years ago and was regulated by a protocol based on which 720 Croatian citizens study in Slovenia today and hundreds of joint projects have been realised, the two ministers told a joint news conference.
Jovanovic said a new agreement would upgrade "the excellent cooperation" to include sports.
Pikalo said the current protocol regulating cooperation in science and education would go out of force with Croatia's EU accession, so a working group would be set up to agree on new models of cooperation. He expected the new agreement to be adopted as soon as possible.
Responding to questions from the press, Jovanovic said the two countries would have more possibilities to finance joint projects after Croatia's EU entry on July 1, from which Croatia, Slovenia and the EU could benefit. He added that Croatia and Slovenia wanted to be the leaders in the region in science and education.