Minister Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović held bilateral meetings on the margins of the 14th OSCE Ministerial Council in Brussels

In the meeting with Under Secretary of State Burns, Minister Grabar-Kitarović hailed the Final Riga Summit Declaration in which the heads of states and governments of NATO stressed the significant progress achieved by the Republic of Croatia and also defined a clear timeframe for Croatia joining the NATO. The Minister said that the Croatian Government issued a special statement welcoming the NATO Declaration on new tasks and the role of the Alliance, which were introduced at the summit, with the announcement that NATO would be ready for enlargement in spring, 2008.

Minister Grabar-Kitarović informed Under Secretary of State Burns on the recent founding of the National Committee on NATO Membership, headed by three presidents, President of the Republic of Croatia Stjepan Mesić, President of the Croatian Parliament Vladimir Šeks and Prime Minister of Croatia Ivo Sanader, and the activities of the Committee. The Minister explained that, with coordinated activities of competent government institutions, the communication strategy and the already achieved consensus of all political parties on strategic goals, the founding of the National Committee was another confirmation of the strong commitment of the Republic of Croatia to obtaining full membership, both in the EU and the NATO. She underlined the noteworthy efforts invested by the Republic of Croatia towards obtaining NATO membership and said that communication with the public was to remain high among the priorities of the Croatian Government. The Minister presented the efforts of the Croatian Government focused on thoroughly informing the citizens on NATO membership and said that she was confident that an even more productive work within the plans to implement the communication strategy, informing the Croatian public and explaining NATO membership benefits shall follow, now with the help of the National Committee on NATO Membership as well. During the meeting, the status and the importance of the activities of the Republic of Croatia in the region were especially stressed, on the basis of the fact that the Republic of Croatia was the leader in the area of reforms, and is able and willing to share its experience with other countries.

At the meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Gela Bezhuashvili, good bilateral relationship and cooperation between the two countries were acknowledged, especially in relation to Euro-Atlantic integration. Minister Grabar-Kitarović said that the Republic of Croatia was ready to share its experience related to the process of accession to the EU and NATO and all reform processes aiming at adjusting to EU and NATO standards, with the Republic of Georgia. The continuation of consultations was settled as well as mutual visits by foreign ministers of the two countries. The Ministers also discussed the situation in the Caucasus.

During the meeting with the Afghan Senior Policy Advisor Moradian, the discussion focused on the situation in Afghanistan and the military contribution of the Republic of Croatia to the NATO peace mission in Afghanistan under UN mandate. They also referred to the cooperation between the countries in the context of the current training of an Afghan diplomat at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Croatia, with special emphasis on the collaboration plan to support civil society development, women rights and childcare, economic growth and humanitarian work in Afghanistan.