Britain strongly supports your EU membership bid and we are glad to see progress being made in that sense, the British official said after meeting Davor Boznovic, a state secretary at the Croatian Foreign Affairs and European Integration Ministry,
Addressing the press after their meeting, Baroness Taylor expressed wish that Croatia's border dispute with Slovenia be settled as soon as possible.
"With the British support Croatia will soon become an EU member, and in this way our strategic partnership will strengthen further," Bozinovic told the press.
Commenting on the recent admission of Croatia to NATO, Baroness Taylor said that the full NATO membership was a very important step for Croatia.
This is important for the region and its stability to which Croatia contributes. It is also important for NATO to have a member state which it holds to be able to give a substantial contribution, she added.
She described the relations between her country and Croatia as very strong and good.
Asked by reporters how she felt in Croatia against a backdrop of a recent warning from the British Foreign Office about latent terrorist threats in Croatia, Baroness Taylor said that she felt very well in Croatia and that the Foreign Office did not caution against travelling to Croatia.
I do not think that our Foreign Office has discouraged anybody to travel to Croatia. I have checked tourist bookings for this year and there is a seven percent rise this year. Many Britons who have been to Croatia are satisfied and will come again, she said.
Bozinovic said that the number of British tourists in Croatia had been rising for years and that last year there were nearly 300,000 British guests in Croatia.
Later in the day, the British official met with Croatian parliamentarians, Boris Sprem and Zeljka Antunovic, who are members of the parliament's committee on defence.
Sprem thanked her for the British support to Croatia's efforts to modernise its national military system and adjust it to tNATO standards.
Baroness Taylor said that Great Britain appreciated Croatia's participation in peace missions and its contribution to the global security.