State Secretary Hido Biščević received Australian Ambassador Tracy Reid to inaugural visit

State Secretary Biščević and Ambassador Reid agreed on the statement that the relations between the Republic of Croatia and Australia are good, without any open issues. State Secretary Biščević stressed the problem of the Australian visa regime as an unsolved bilateral issue. He stressed that the Republic of Croatia should, related to the visa policy, be treated as a country with new development profile with regards to its future membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the European Union and he also added that it would be useful if the Australian side invested additional efforts in resolving this issue. Beside the mutual satisfaction with the cultural cooperation, both sides expressed the need for intensifying economic cooperation.

Both sides expressed mutual satisfaction with the judicial cooperation of the two countries and State Secretary Biščević thanked for efficient judicial procedure in the Vasiljković case. Ambassador Reid pointed out that Australia supports the efforts that the Republic of Croatia is investing in the reform of the judicial system, as well as other activities it undertakes in the process of accession to the EU.

Ambassador Reid congratulated State Secretary Biščević on his election for Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council.