Croatian, Polish FMs: Eastern Europe should cooperate better so it’s not outskirts of the West

(Hina) - Croatia and Poland share similar points of view about the region and Europe and all countries of central and eastern Europe should cooperate and lobby better so that they are not just the outskirts of the western Europe

(Hina) - Croatia and Poland share similar points of view about the region and Europe and all countries of central and eastern Europe should cooperate and lobby better so that they are not just the outskirts of the western Europe, Croatian and Polish Foreign Ministers Miro Kovač and Witold Wasczykowski said in Warsaw on Monday.

The two ministers met as part of the official visit of Croatian Minister Kovač who before that held talks with Jaroslaw Kaczynski, president of the Polish ruling conservative party Law and Justice.

"We can also cooperate in defining solutions to European problems, the migration policy and a shared European future," Kovač said after the talks with Wasczykowski.

"Europe is currently facing an identity crisis and it is important that both Croatia's and Poland's voice be heard, and through our cooperation... we can achieve a lot to the benefit of both Croatia and Poland, as well as the European Union," Kovač said.

"I also talked to Kaczynski about Croatian-Polish relations and we agreed that as central European countries ... we must cooperate more on the political front as well as on the economic and cultural fronts," Kovač said.

Wasczykowski said the two countries had similar points of view about the region and Europe. He said they talked about building a region that would stretch from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic and the Black Sea, which Polish President Andrzej Duda called "Region ABC" and which was also promoted by Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović.

We want out countries to set up a lobbying group and promote our security interests so that we are not just the outskirts of the western Europe, Wasczykowski said.

Earlier on Monday, Kovač took part in a panel discussion in the National School of Public Administration in Warsaw.

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