Minister Gordan Jandroković met during official visit to Switzerland with Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey

The collocutors described the bilateral relations as friendly, very good and devoid of outstanding issues, with a tendency for further improvement

The collocutors described the bilateral relations as friendly, very good and devoid of outstanding issues, with a tendency for further improvement, expressing belief that today’s signing of two interstate agreements would also contribute to that. An important segment of the bilateral relations and a cooperation bridge of sorts, the ministers agreed, is the numerous Croatian diaspora in the Swiss Confederation.

Minister Jandroković thanked the Swiss Confederation for the humanitarian aid it had been sending Croatia during the Homeland War, as well as for the post-war mine action projects and reconstruction of war-torn areas.

Speaking about the possibilities of enhancing the economic cooperation, Minister Jandroković invited Swiss businessmen to invest more in Croatia, especially in small and middle-sized entrepreneurship. He expressed satisfaction with the growing number of Swiss tourists in Croatia, which in 2009, despite the global recession, was 3% more than the year before.

The collocutors also talked about Croatia’s EU accession negotiations, with Minister Jandroković pointing out that they enter their final stage this year. Croatia will do whatever is necessary to fulfil its negotiating duties and effectively implement the required reforms, said the minister. He informed Minister Calmy-Rey about the current political and security situation in the region, expressing support for the Euro-Atlantic future of all its countries.

The ministers also exchanged opinions about the two countries’ multilateral cooperation, with a special emphasis on the UN and the Council of Europe, within which the Swiss Confederation is currently presiding over the Committee of Ministers.

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