Minister Gordan Jandroković led on Wednesday, 1 July 2009, the Croatian delegation at the first meeting of the Coordinating Committee of the Ministers of the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Italy

During the meeting Minister Gordan Jandroković and his Italian counterpart Franco Frattini described the bilateral relations between Croatia and Italy as excellent and partner-like, with great potential for cooperation in all fields. The collocutors in particular expressed satisfaction with economic cooperation between the two states and the desire for its further improvement, as Italy is Croatia’s leading trade partner, the largest export market and one of the leading tourism source countries. In this sense, the growing interest of Italian businessmen to invest in Croatia was welcomed. The Ministers agreed that it was necessary to identify the areas of common interest and in particular one significant economic project, together with further support to investors in small and medium-sized enterprise. Among others, there are great possibilities for investments in infrastructure, for example in the area of railway transport development.

Minister Jandroković thanked Italy for its continuing support to Croatia in achieving the current highest foreign policy priority – accession to the European Union, and its support during accession to NATO. He said that despite the present Slovenian blockade, Croatia’s goal remains to complete the accession negotiation in accordance with the EU’s Road Map. Minister Frattini once again publicly communicated a political message that the bilateral issues should be separated from Croatia’s accession negotiations for membership of the European Union.

The protection of the rights of minorities and the role of national minorities in the strengthening of bilateral relations between Croatia and Italy was also discussed at the meeting of foreign affairs ministers. It was pointed out that the status of Italian national minority in the Republic of Croatia was good, having concrete support at the central and local levels. The need was stressed to strengthen financial support to the Croatian national minority, especially in Molise. On this occasion, the importance of compliance with the Osimo Agreement and the Rome Agreement was confirmed once more, and the talks concerning the solving of those cases which are not included in these Agreements. The ruling of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia in one concrete case is pending, and all decisions concerning denationalisation will be in conformity with the European standards.

Ministers Jandroković and Frattini exchanged standpoints on other important issues, in particular Southeast Europe on which Croatia and Italy have common views. It was noted that Euro-Atlantic prospects of Southeast Europe are the key factor of regional stability, and that it was important to achieve further progress in the process of enlargement of the European Union in accordance with the defined accession criteria.

Along with the meeting between Ministers of Foreign Affairs Jandroković and Frattini, several bilateral meetings of state secretaries, members of the Croatian delegation, and their Italian counterparts were also held in Rome. After the plenary session of the Coordinating Committee, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs signed a Joint Statement with the conclusions of the meeting, and the representatives of the competent ministries of the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Italy signed the Agreement on joint exploitation of the gas field “Annamaria” in the Northern Adriatic.

The first meeting of the Coordinating Committee of the Ministers marked the beginning of implementation of the Memorandum of Cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Croatia and the Government of the Republic of Italy, signed in January 2009 in Zagreb during an official visit of Minister Frattini. The goal is to further intensify political, economic, cross-border and interregional cooperation, especially in the areas included in the Memorandum of Cooperation. In particular this pertains to the areas of infrastructure and transport, investments and energy, agriculture, food industry and rural development, environmental protection with emphasis on the protection of the Adriatic Sea, and cooperation between universities in science and research.

One of the areas of common interest is certainly economic cooperation in the Adriatic Sea, including the cooperation of ports, development of the transportation network and exploitation of gas. Apart from this, within the framework of regional cooperation and initiatives, such as the Adriatic-Ionic and Central European initiatives, there is interest in further promotion of environmental protection, civil protection and security in the Adriatic. Croatia gives special importance to the initiative to declare the Adriatic Sea as a particularly sensitive sea area.

All of the above was described as a step forward in promoting and establishing a higher level of the overall relations between Croatia and Italy.

A special Working Group was charged with overseeing the implementation of the tasks agreed in today’s bilateral meetings, and with the preparation of the second Coordinating Committee to be held in Zagreb in June next year.