Croatia has a friend in the Czech Republic which promotes Croatia's entry into the European Union. I have reassured Mr. President that the Czech Republic supports Croatia's admission to the EU, President Klaus told a news conference after his talks with Josipovic.
We, too, can remember the time when we were knocking on the EU's door and it seemed to us that it was taking too long, and we can understand that, the Czech president said.
President Josipovic described the Czech experience and support as valuable to Croatia. He spoke about the many ties between the two countries, pointing out the role of their respective ethnic minorities and tourists.
Many Czech tourists come to Croatia and Croatian tourists visit this wonderful city. We want the cultural and tourist contacts to be a bridge between the two countries and we want our economies to improve cooperation and to be an additional link between our countries, Josipovic said.
The two presidents also discussed multilateral issues and the situation in Libya.
Responding to a reporter's remark about him being frequently labelled as a Euro-sceptic, Klaus said that he was tired of explaining that he was not Euro-sceptical, stressing that there was a distinction between Euro-naive and Euro-realistic people.
I am a Euro-realist, he added.
Later in the day Josipovic was due to meet Czech Senate Speaker Milan Stech and visit Karlovo University for a meeting with students of the Croatian language. He was also expected to confer a Croatian state award on Czech translator Irena Wenigova.