"Although there have been reports that Croatia has neglected its relations with the US, the latest moves, meetings between the US President and me and President (Stjepan) Mesic in New York, the invitation to the White House and the latest decisions bear witness to the fact that those relations are good and improving," Sanader told reporters, commenting on the decision by the US to lift a ban on military assistance to Croatia.
Speaking to reporters during a break in a session of the HDZ Presidency, Sanader said that Croatia was marking the 10th anniversary of its admission to the Council of Europe and the first anniversary of the start of negotiations on EU membership.
He stressed that the HDZ Presidency was determined to fully implement all reforms aimed at facilitating Croatia's integration with the EU and NATO.
"Despite some announcements from the European Commission, I still strongly believe that there will be no institutional obstacles to Croatia's admission to the EU, if the negotiations are completed in a good fashion."
Sanader said he expected a national consensus on the fight against bribery, corruption and organised crime and announced the payment of the second installment of the state debt to pensioners until Christmas.
Reporters wanted to know if he was satisfied with the HDZ's coalition partners and which party he saw as his party's partner in the future. Sanader said that he was very much satisfied with the coalition partners and all who make up the parliamentary majority.
"If you ask me what the situation will be like a year from now, I believe it will be as it is now, probably with slight changes, depending on election results."
Sanader said that at the present his party was not planning to embark on an election campaign.