The Netherlands fully supports Croatia's EU membership, Trooster said, adding that her government did not want to only observe but take an active role in assisting countries to meet criteria for EU membership.
The ambassador said her country was the biggest single donor to Croatia through projects for state administration, social and economic transition, and specific preparations.
The Netherlands wants to support projects that are complementary with other projects, it does not wish to repeat EU projects, the ambassador said. The presentation was therefore also attended by a representative of the Delegation of the European Commission in Croatia.
The pre-accession assistance programmes MATRA for the noneconomic sector and MATRA PSO for the economy sector were presented by Chris Baare of the EVD, the Dutch Economy Ministry implementation agency.
In 2005, the Netherlands allocated EU1.75 million to Croatia through the two pre-accession assistance programmes and another EUR1.95 million in 2006.
Both programmes are aimed at providing technical assistance to Croatia in meeting criteria necessary for full EU membership, Baare said.