"I am very pleased with today's meeting, which reaffirmed the European perspective of all the countries in the region and an individual approach based on individual merits. Several speakers commended Croatia for its efforts to boost regional cooperation, particularly in the economic sector and free trade," Grabar-Kitarovic told reporters in the Austrian city of Salzburg on Saturday following an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers and their counterparts from the countries covered by the Stabilisation and Association process.
The joint statement adopted at the meeting included Croatia's proposal that a regional free trade zone be established by expanding the CEFTA.
Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn announced that talks on a Southeast Europe free trade zone would start in Bucharest on 6 April at the invitation of Romanian Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu, who currently chairs the CEFTA, and the Special Coordinator of the Stability Pact, Erhard Busek.
The meeting will bring together the prime ministers of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, and representatives of the UN Mission in Kosovo.
Following failed referendums on the European Constitution in France and the Netherlands, ideas have been floated that the further enlargement of the EU should be slowed down until the question of enlargement or deepening is resolved.
At France's urging, the joint statement noted that the EU's absorption capacity should be taken into account.
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy reiterated at the meeting that disagreement with the enlargement was one of the reasons why the proposed Constitution had been rejected in France and the Netherlands.
We need the support of our citizens for the continuation of the enlargement process, Douste-Blazy said.