After their talks, Sanader and Buckovski told the press that the two countries were excellently cooperating on the road towards Euro-Atlantic institutions, and announced mew activities in that segment.
Sanader said that the European Union cannot stop its enlargement with the admission of Romania and Bulgaria, which are to become the 26th and 27th newcomers, neither with the admission of Croatia "given that we would like to have a new, more prosperous Europe, free of bloody wars from the past, which is why the European integration has no alternative and (EU) must include Macedonia and other countries from the region".
With regard Croatia's and Macedonia's bid to enter NATO, Sanader said that the two countries were expecting that the forthcoming summit of the alliance in the Latvian capital of Riga would send clear signals to Zagreb and Skopje.
Buckovski also expressed his confidence in the further expansion of the European Union, and announced that his country and Croatia could set up joint contingents for peace operations in Afghanistan.
The two premiers, who described bilateral cooperation as excellent, attended the establishment of the Macedonian-Croatian business club in the Chamber of the Commerce in Skopje.
The purpose of the club, which includes major Macedonian companies and 30 branches of Croatian companies in Macedonia, is to help increase the trade between the two countries, which currently goes around 220 million euros annually.
PM Sanader, who was on a one-day visit to Skopje, also met representatives of Macedonian Croats. He and Buckovski considered a possibility for granting a status of an ethnic minority to local Croats, just like Macedonians who are recognised as a minority in Croatia.
Sanader, who arrived in Skopje accompanied by Economy and Culture Ministers Branko Vukelic and Bozo Biskupic, was received by the Macedonian Parliament Speaker Ljupce Jordanovski.