Political consultations were held in Vienna between Croatian and Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Croatian delegation was led by State Secretary for Political Affairs at the Croatian MFA Hido Biščević
State Secretaries Biščević and Kyrle discussed the further development of co-operation between the two countries, and especially about Croatia’s approaching the EU. Reiterating its full support to the process of realising the EU membership, Austria offered Croatia concrete help in transferring the knowledge and experiences before the start of the ascension negotiations.
Opinions were exchanged about the situation in Southeast Europe. European Council’s decision about Croatian’s EU membership candidate status and about the start of the ascension negotiations early-2005 was described as an important motivation for the realisation of the European perspective for all of the SAP countries.
State Secretaries Biščević and Kyrle reviewed the issues of measures and activities of the EU and the international community directed towards the realisation of permanent stability, security and prosperity in Southeast Europe, including Kosovo. The two sides agreed on the importance of stabilising Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Republic of Macedonia in view of the conclusions of the Thessaloniki declaration and the confirmation of the European perspective of that part of Europe.
Biščević and Kryle discussed the further strengthening of co-operation between Croatia and Austria, describing the present relations as very good. Ways of strengthening the co-operation at the bi- and multilateral level were also discussed, as well as the co-operation within the framework of international organisations. Mutual support regarding the candidacy of the two countries for nonpermanent members of the UN Security Council in the following years was also confirmed.
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