FM Stier hold talks with Austria's President-elect van der Ballen

(Hina) - Alexander van der Ballen won Austria's presidential election two weeks ago thanks to his pro-European policy opposed to the anti-European policy, Croatia's Foreign Minister Davor Ivo Stier said

(Hina) - Alexander van der Ballen won Austria's presidential election two weeks ago thanks to his pro-European policy opposed to the anti-European policy, Croatia's Foreign Minister Davor Ivo Stier said after talks with Austria's President-elect in Vienna on Monday.

Van der Bellen ran as a nominally independent candidate supported by the Green Party in the 2016 presidential election and defeated right-wing Freedom Party candidate Norbert Hofer in the December 4 runoff. The new president is due to be sworn in on 26 January 2017.

"I have congratulated the President-elect on his victory... It is important to see that a pro-European policy can win elections. We (the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ), won the parliamentary election in Croatia on such a pro-European platform," Stier, a member of the HDZ, told reporters after his talks with van der Bellen.

Regardless of all challenges, the European Union has secured progress for its member-states and their citizens and it is important to advocate its future, Stier said.

"Moving in the opposite direction would devalue what has been achieved in the European Union."

Stier said that his talks with the new Austrian head of state were "good and open" and that they confirmed the two countries' friendly relations. Stier's meeting with his Austrian counterpart, Sebastian Kurz, had to be cancelled due to the latter's illness.

According to Stier, his talks with van der Bellen and Austrian lawmakers revolved around Southeast European countries that are EU aspirants, notably Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The talks showed that "we would all like to see Southeast European countries meet all criteria and we want to help them in that regard".

"We supported Bosnia and Herzegovina's European prospects and we want to see Bosnia and Herzegovina start moving towards Europe," Stier said.

We have also underscored that the principle of equality of the Croats, the Bosniaks and the Serbs and all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina is something good for the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Croatian minister said.

"By meeting (EU membership) criteria and conducting accession negotiations, all countries, including Serbia, are undergoing transformation that enables greater stability. It is important to underline the European prospects that all countries have and Croatia and Austria support," Stier said in response to a question from the press whether his talks with his Austrian hosts had mentioned Serbia's anger at Croatia's decision to withhold its consent for the opening of the policy chapter on education and culture within Serbia's EU accession talks.

On Monday afternoon, the Croatian minister will hold a lecture on the topic "The importance of Southeastern Europe for a stable European Union" at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna.

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