Like Croatia, Ukraine too sees its future in united Europe, he said, adding that the EU and NATO were strategic goals for his country, confirmed in legislation.
He described his visit to Croatia as the opening of new possibilities and prospects of cooperation. Apart from cooperation in Euro-Atlantic integration, he said Ukraine was particularly interested in a closer political and social dialogue.
Yushchenko also mentioned economic cooperation, saying it was increasingly stronger and more dynamic. Last year's trade exceeded US$120 million, whereas in 2003 it amounted to $43 million, he said, adding there were many areas for cooperation, including investment, industry, agriculture, construction, and the transport and tourist infrastructure. He said Ukraine was also interested in the joint oil pipeline Druzba Adria project.
Yushchenko also spoke of the thousand-year-old history of the Croat and Ukrainian peoples, recalling they had become brothers at the time of the White Croat tribe. He said relations between the two countries experienced a renaissance in 1991, after "the demolishing of the empire", and recalled that Ukraine had been among the first to recognise Croatia's independence.
He said the two peoples had supported one another during social upheavals, and called on the Croatian parliament to recognise the Holodomor, the 1932-33 famine, as an act of genocide against the Ukrainian people.
Our people will be grateful to receive such a decision, as an example of support and moral assistance, Yushchenko said.
Speaking of the crisis in his country, he said Ukraine's politics resolved the hardest problems in a democratic fashion and that this tradition would remain constant.
For me, every success and every test oriented towards democracy is an important part of Ukraine's renaissance, he said.
Underlining the importance of democracy, reconstruction and the healing of society, Yushchenko criticised his country's totalitarian past, recalling that dozens of millions of Ukrainians had been victims of communist terror.
He was also received by Parliament Speaker Vladimir Seks for talks on bilateral relations and common strategic interests.
Seks thanked Yushchenko for saying in his address to the Croatian parliamentarians that the opinions of ecologists and the public should be taken into consideration with regard to the Druzba Adria project. The Ukrainian president agreed that broad political support was necessary for its implementation.