As Head of the Delegation of the Republic of Croatia, State Secretary for Political Affairs Davor Božinović took part on Friday, 27 November 2009, in the 2nd Regional Conference on EU Integration of the countries in the Stabilisation and Accession Proce

State delegations from the Republic of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, the Republic of Macedonia and the Republic of Serbia took part in the conference held at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia Vasko Naumovski.

The participating countries declared in the Common Statement their support to the Republic of Croatia for finalisation of negotiations for full membership of the European Union by mid 2010. The Republic of Croatia welcomed the progress made by each attending country in terms of the specified criteria and individual results. Accession of the Republic of Croatia to the EU has been recognised as the interest of all countries in the region, in the same way that it is in Croatia’s interest that all countries in the region continue on their path towards the European Union, as this represents an investment in the long-term stability and progress of the entire region.

Participants in the meeting emphasised that South East European countries on their path to the EU integration should further strengthen their cooperation as one of the key solutions to overcoming economic and energy challenges in the region. It was specially highlighted that the conference was organised owing to the initiative of the countries in the region themselves.

During the panel discussion on the topic “2010 – The Year of the Countries in the Stabilisation and Association Process”, State Secretary Božinović pointed out that keeping Euro-Atlantic prospects was the basis for successful implementation of comprehensive and demanding reforms on the way of all South East European countries to EU membership.

In the follow-up to the conference, the participants discussed the projects of establishing a Transport Community between the EU and South East European countries, with a view to accelerating the process of alignment with EU legislation on transport.