"Croatia is the leader of the entire Balkan region. Our relations are intense and fruitful," Mediu said, adding that the US-Adriatic Charter was one of the best initiatives for drawing closer to NATO.
Roncevic said "we have reason for optimism" regarding accession to NATO. "We were given a strong message in the Declaration from Riga, and from the next summit, which we hear will be an enlargement summit, we expect our efforts in reforms, not just of the armed forces but of the entire state administration, to be formalised accordingly."
The two ministers also talked about bilateral Croatia-Albania defence cooperation as well as within the Adriatic Charter. Roncevic relayed Croatia's experience in the creation of a professional army and the two ministers agreed on further cooperation in this area.