Minister Gordan Jandroković paid official visit to Republic of Latvia

"Source:http://www.president.lv"

The meeting with Foreign Minister Riekstins described the relations between the two countries as excellent, friendly, and devoid of outstanding issues. Minister Jandroković thanked for the professional assistance Latvia is extending Croatia on its way to the EU. In that regard, both sides expressed satisfaction with the continued professional consultations between representatives of the two countries’ state administrations regarding the EU accession negotiations.

In regard to the current course of Croatia’s EU negotiations, Minister Jandroković said that Croatia welcomes the initiative by EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn. He relayed Croatia’s positions on the necessity of separating the border issue from the negotiations process, unblocking the negotiations, and solving the border dispute before the International Court of Justice. Minister Riekstins expressed full support for Croatia’s efforts to join the EU, as well as NATO at the Strasbourg/Kehl Summit next month.

Talking about the bilateral economic cooperation, which was described as having room for improvement, the ministers advocated its strengthening, namely in building the road and railway infrastructure, shipbuilding, and tourism. As an example of the successful cooperation, the ministers noted Podravka, which through a Latvian distributor assumed leadership on the Latvian spice market.

During the meeting with Latvian President Zatlers, Minister Jandroković expressed satisfaction with the exchange of highest-level visits, with a hope that such dynamic would continue. Exchanging opinions about the current situation in regard to the EU, Minister Jandroković thanked for Latvia’s strong support for Croatia’s EU and NATO accession.

Minister Jandroković also met with Parliament Speaker Daudze and reviewed the bilateral parliamentary cooperation, which both sides expressed satisfaction with, especially the activities of the Croatian Parliament’s Croatia-Latvia Friendship Group and Saeima’s Group for Cooperation with the Croatian Parliament. He thanked for the swift ratification of the Protocol on NATO Enlargement to Croatia in the Latvian Parliament. The collocutors also talked about the cooperation between Croatian shipyard Third May and Latvian ship-owning companies, as well as the energy networking of Croatia with the neighbouring countries. Speaker Daudze and his associates also inquired about Croatia’s arguments regarding the border dispute with Slovenia, as well as about Croatia’s views on the current state of affairs in South Eastern Europe.