Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, during her official visit to Canada, held the opening speech at the 52nd annual NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Quebec, as the only orator along with high Canadian official...
Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, during her official visit to Canada, held the opening speech at the 52nd annual NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Quebec, as the only orator along with high Canadian officials – Speaker of the Canadian Senate Noel Kinsella, Speaker of the House of Commons Peter Milliken, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor, and NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.
In her speech at the Parliamentary Assembly that saw more than 600 participants, Minister Grabar-Kitarovic said that Croatia, together with its SEE friends and partners, expects and deserves from the forthcoming NATO summit in Riga a strong and encouraging signal as regards the NATO membership, with a clear timeframe.
Pointing out that Croatia is dedicated to the continuation of the defence reforms and meeting of the political criteria for membership, Minister Grabar-Kitarovic noted the confirmation and continuation of the full co-operation with the ICTY, presented the justice reform and the National Programme for Combating Corruption, and stressed that the refugee return process is marking a constant progress and is expected to end soon. The Republic of Croatia shares in full the values on which NATO and EU are based and is committed to encouraging the development of peace, democracy, freedom, human rights protection, and economic stability, said Minister Grabar-Kitarovic.
The Republic of Croatia has transformed from an assistance receiver into a country that is actively contributing to the development of peace, stability, and security, said Minister Grabar-Kitarovic. Croatia is participating in numerous UN peacekeeping missions, has been elected to the Organisational Committee of the UN Peacebuilding Commission, and has applied for a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2008-2009 period.
Emphasizing that there is a wider national consensus regarding the membership, Minister Grabar-Kitarovic pointed out that that is also reflected in the setting up of a National Committee for NATO Accession. Croatia has started the fifth cycle of the Membership Action Plan by implementing a whole series of reforms. As a part of the 2006-2007 Annual National Plan for Membership, the Communication Strategy on NATO Accession was also adopted, with the aim of adequately informing all parts of the Croatian society about NATO membership, said Minister Grabar-Kitarovic.
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