Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Gordan Jandroković met during working visit to France with Chairman of French Senate’s European Affairs Committee Jean Bizet

The collocutors expressed satisfaction over the excellent bilateral relations, as confirmed by strategic partnership

The collocutors expressed satisfaction over the excellent bilateral relations, as confirmed by strategic partnership. Minister Jandroković pointed out that Croatia was the first non-EU country with which France had signed a strategic partnership deal, which clearly proves the high level of relations.

Remarking that Croatia had entered the final phase of the EU negotiations, he thanked for France’s continuous support during the process. He said that, according to the announcements from Brussels, the European Commission should by the end of the week submit to the Council of the European Union the drafts for the negotiating positions on the four chapters that remained to be closed, bringing the negotiation process closer to the end. It is the result of the reforms and efforts in regard to the harmonization and meeting the demanding criteria, said Jandroković, adding that Croatia would continue with the intensive work on their implementation.

Committee Chairman Bizet expressed strong support for the conclusion of the negotiations as soon as possible, as well as Croatia’s full-fledged EU membership. He emphasized that France supported the EU enlargement and agreed that Croatia’s entry would benefit all of the 27 members.

Regarding the situation in the region, Minister Jandroković stressed the importance of the continuation of the EU enlargement process after Croatia’s accession, for the purposes of achieving sustainable stability of Europe’s southeast as a whole.

The collocutors also discussed the cooperation within NATO and the Union for the Mediterranean, the situation in Northern Africa and the Middle East peace process.

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