Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader told the press the energy independence of Croatia and Hungary as well as of the region and the European Union was of outstanding importance and that it had been agreed that the INA and MOL oil companies and the JANAF oil pipeline should continue their intensive cooperation.
PM Ferenc Gyurcsany said Hungary was interested in storing oil and oil products in accordance with EU standards and in the building of a terminal on the Adriatic island of Krk for the storing of liquid gas, which he said was a strategic issue.
He said that Croatia and Hungary had an agreement to join oil pipelines and that 340 km of pipeline had yet to be built.
Sanader said there were two possible locations for an LNG terminal, on Krk or in Plomin, with the latter the likelier one. He added the two countries were continuing to cooperate on pan-European corridors V/b and V/c and had prepared the construction of a bridge and border crossing on the Mura river.
Gyurcsany said there was will to join road routes and start modernising rail routes of European importance by 2008.
The two governments also discussed real estate given that about 400,000 Hungarians who spend the summer in Croatia are interested in buying houses or land.
Gyurcsany thanked the Croatian government for taking measures to simplify the registration of property, but Sanader underlined this was based on the principle of reciprocity.
The two sides also discussed the position of minorities, saying there were no problems in this field. Both governments resolutely stand for the rights and protection of minorities and border area cooperation, said Sanader.
Asked about a representative of the Croatian minority in the Hungarian parliament, Gyurcsany said this was part of amendments to the election law. He explained the main problem was that the coalition he headed did not have the two-thirds majority in parliament and that the opposition had not consented to a Croat representative.
He applauded the opening of a Hungarian department at the University of Osijek in the next academic year.
The two sides agreed that Croatia will hold a presentation in Pecs in 2010 when the Hungarian city will be the European capital of culture, and that the two countries' police forces would continue to cooperate during the summer season.
Sanader said Croatia and Hungary were two friendly, modern independent countries which wanted to share a European present and future.
Our only goal is to find a place next to each other in the common Europe, said Gyurcsany.