Minister Jandroković met with Bulgarian European Affairs Minister Gergana Hristova Grancharova

The two collocutors expressed mutual satisfaction with the development of the bilateral relations between Croatia and Bulgaria, describing them as very good and devoid of outstanding issues. Minister Jandroković thanked Bulgaria for the continuous support it is extending Croatia on its way towards a full-fledged EU and NATO membership. Informing Minister Grancharova about the course of Croatia’s EU negotiations, he said that Croatia intends to open the remaining chapters by the end of this year and close as many of them as possible, so that the technical part of the negotiation process could be completed by the end of this European Commission’s mandate, i.e. by fall 2009. He said that Croatia has recently submitted to the Commission an overview of all the most actual achievements, expressing his conviction that the Commission would recognise Croatia’s progress in its next progress report.

The meeting also discussed Bulgaria’s experience and the conducted reforms as part of the EU accession process. Minister Grancharova pointed out that Bulgaria is willing to offer all of the necessary assistance, positively describing the reforms Croatia has conducted thus far. As regards the further development of the co-operation in this area, Minister Jandroković announced that next week a directorate head-level delegation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration is to visit Bulgaria and for the purposes of experience exchange.

The two collocutors also reviewed the activities conducted as part of the regional co-operation and talked about the two countries’ economic co-operation, specifically noting the economic aspects of joining the EU, which Minister Grancharova described as exceptionally positive.

State Secretary for European Integration Davor Božinović also met with Minister Grancharova.