It is realistic to expect that we can complete the negotiations next year, and then it's up to you in the European Union to make the necessary institutional changes that will enable further enlargement, Sanader told members of the second strongest political group in the European Parliament.
Sanader said he would not want the enlargement process to stop with Croatia's admission, but to continue with the integration of other countries in Southeast Europe when they are ready for entry.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Sanader said that Croatia planned to submit as many negotiating positions as possible this year and to open as many policy chapters as possible and close some of them.
He announced that the Croatian government would adopt a negotiating position for one more chapter by the end of this week and for another five by the end of the month.
Two intergovernmental conferences were expected to be held during the German EU presidency by July 1 this year when most of the chapters would be opened.
This year should be a year when we will be opening chapters, and of course it is in our interest to close some of them, while 2008 will be a year of closing chapters, the Croatian prime minister said.
He said that the fact that 2007 was an election year in Croatia would not affect the pace of talks with the EU. As far as we are concerned, the negotiations could go even faster, he added.
Sanader said he was pleased to be given the opportunity to address Socialist and Social Democratic members of the European Parliament. In his address, he thanked leaders of this political group for their support to Croatia, although the government in Zagreb is from the opposite political camp.
Sanader said that the Alliance for Europe had been formed in the Croatian Parliament and that it included all parliamentary parties. He said that at his proposal the national committee monitoring the EU accession talks was headed by the president of the strongest opposition party, Ivica Racan.
Speaking of regional cooperation, Sanader recalled that he was the first Croatian prime minister to visit Belgrade and the first prime minister to extend his best wishes for Christmas to the Orthodox Christian faithful in Croatia using their traditional greeting "The Christ is born!"
The chairman of the Socialist group, Martin Schulz, said he was optimistic about the possibility of Croatia joining the European Union as soon as possible.
Asked if it was realistic for Croatia to become a member in 2009, Schulz said that dates had not been discussed.
I am personally very optimistic that Croatia will be able to join at the earliest possible moment. My impression is that Croatia can achieve its goals by the end of 2008 or the beginning of 2009. I don't see further obstacles to the completion of the negotiations. I cannot give an exact date of entry because it's not up to me or to the Parliament but to the EU Council, Schulz said.
Before the meeting with the Socialists, Sanader had brief separate talks with the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Jacek-Emil Saryusz-Wolski, members of Parliament Schulz and Hannes Swoboda, and the chairman of the Greens group, Daniel Cohn-Bendit.
On Thursday, the Croatian prime minister is scheduled to meet European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering and Graham Watson, leader of the Liberals group in the European Parliament. In the afternoon, he will participate in a summit of the European People's Party (EPP) and after that he is due to meet European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn.