The two-day meeting focused on the political situation in central Europe, with participants positively assessing the progress which CEI member-states have made in the process of European integration, reads a press release issued by the Croatian Foreign Ministry today.
According to the release, the final document of the meeting underlines that Croatia and the European Union are expected to start membership talks as soon as possible. The document also welcomes the interest of Croatia, Albania and Macedonia in joining NATO.
Minister Grabar-Kitarovic pointed to the importance of regional cooperation in the process of EU enlargement, particularly the importance of the CEI as the oldest and biggest European regional forum supporting its members on the road toward Euro-Atlantic institutions politically and through its programmes.
The Croatian minister also spoke about the importance of relations between the CEI and the European Union and of the decision inviting the European Commission to join the CEI as an observer and establish an office in charge of promoting cooperation between this regional forum and the European Union.
The CEI should focus on removing economic and trading obstacles between CEI members, said Eduard Kukan, the Foreign Minister of Slovakia, which currently chairs this forum.
Croatia joined the Central European Initiative in 1992. The 17-member CEI has three fields of activities: cooperation between its members, CEI member-countries' participation in European integration, and support to economic transition.