CAVTAT, May 27 (Hina) - The general objective of the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe is to bring the region into the European Union as soon as possible, the Pact's co-ordinator, Erhard Busek, said at the end of the second day of
the Pact's Regional Table in the Croatian seaside resort of Cavtat on Tuesday.
CAVTAT, May 27 (Hina) - The general objective of the Stability Pact
for Southeast Europe is to bring the region into the European Union
as soon as possible, the Pact's co-ordinator, Erhard Busek, said at
the end of the second day of the Pact's Regional Table in the
Croatian seaside resort of Cavtat on Tuesday. #L#
The Stability Pact and the region share the same goal - integrating
the region into the European Union as soon as possible, Busek said
at a news conference which he held together with Croatian and
Bosnian foreign ministers, Tonino Picula and Mladen Ivanic.
The instruments for the accomplishment of that goal are the
Stabilisation and Association process (SAp) and regional
cooperation, which should help create a free trade zone, Busek
added.
When it was established four years ago, the Stability Pact had a
duty to make countries in the region improve regional cooperation,
Croatia's Picula said.
However, nowadays the Pact no longer needs to ameliorate post-war
situations or make countries cooperate better, he said.
The Pact is now to re-direct its activities, as is the EU which
launched stabilisation and association programmes in countries in
the region, the Croatian official added.
Croatia, he said, is the only country among those covered by the SAp
to have submitted an EU membership application and is now waiting
for an answer from Brussels.
"We expect that all countries in the region will advance to that
level," Picula said adding that "the basic criterion for the
assessment of a country's capability of applying for EU membership
will be the implementation of required reforms in bids to reach
European standards".
Ivanic pointed to the importance of setting up a free trade zone in
the region with the purpose of enhancing cooperation and in this
context informed the press conference that there was a series of
bilateral agreements on free trade.
The more developed the region, the better the chances of each
country to join the EU, the Bosnian minister said.
Busek said countries in the region were expected to cooperate in the
struggle against organised crime.
Asked about plans for the abolishment of visa requirements in the
region, Picula said that it was not possible to completely rescind
the visa regime because of organised crime.
At the end of the news conference Busek said he had received a
message from U.S. State Secretary Colin Powell who confirmed the
cooperation of the Stability Pact with the EU and the United
States.
Busek, Picula and Ivanic agreed that the Cavtat meeting was a good
preparation for the EU summit, set for June in Salonika.
(hina) ms sb