"According to the message of the Finnish premier, there are no institutionalised or constitutional obstacles to Croatia becoming a Union member after the European Constitution was rejected at referendums in France and the Netherlands," Seks told Croatian reporters after meeting the Finnish official in Helsinki.
The Nice treaty envisages the expansion of the European Union to 27 countries. The bloc currently consists of 25 members, and with the admission of Romania and Bulgaria on 1 January 2007, the figure will reach 27. Further enlargement is to be regulated by the constitution, but its ratification was halted with "No" at the referendums in France and the Netherlands.
Credit also goes to Prime Minister Vanhanen for the fact that of the 13 reports on policy chapters Brussels has so far sent to Zagreb, 10 have been sent during the Finnish presidency of the Union, Seks said at the end of his official visit to Helsinki. Finland is the current chair of the European Union.
At the end of his official visit, Seks sad that Croatia was "given strong effective backing" during the talks with Finnish officials and parliamentarians who said that there would be no obstacles to Zagreb joining the Union in 2009, if it met all the conditions by then.
On Tuesday morning Seks was received by his Finnish counterpart Paavo Lipponen.