In a talk at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies Croatian Prime Minister Dr. Ivo Sanader said that his visit to the United States and the support of US President George Bush and other top U.S. officials to Croatia was a "big step forward" for Croatia's integration with NATO and the European Union.
WASHINGTON, October 18, 2006. - Croatian Prime Minister Dr. Ivo Sanader that his visit to the United States and the support of US President George Bush and other top US officials to Croatia was a "big step forward" for Croatia's integration with NATO and the European Union.
In a talk at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, Sanader thanked Bush for his support to Croatia's admission to NATO in 2008, expressed during Wednesday's talks at the White House.
Sanader's talks focused on Croatia's Euro-Atlantic integration, reforms, and EU membership negotiations, as well as cooperation with other countries in the region. The PM said that Croatia was a model to otherSoutheast European countries and a factor of stability in the region.
"Croatia was exposed to an act of aggression, one-third of its territory was occupied and it was liberated in the brilliant 1995 Operation Storm," Sanader said describing Croatia's path in the last 15 years since the country gained independence.
Sanader told the audience, made up of university professors, students and diplomats, that the first stage of Croatia's EU entry talks - the so-called screening, was just ending, and that he hoped that talks on all policy chapters could be completed by the end of 2008.
"Croatia will be ready to join the EU in 2009," he said.
The PM also spoke about Croatia's involvement in the NATO-led peace mission in Afghanistan and its commitment to the trans-Atlantic partnership.
At the end of his three-day visit to the United States, Sanader met US Vice-President Dick Cheney for a working lunch. He said that the talks focused on bilateral cooperation, Croatia's Euro-Atlantic integration, participation in the peace mission in Afghanistan, and contribution to stability in the region.
After his visit to Washington, which he described as very successful, Sanader left for Helsinki to attend a meeting of the prime ministers of the European People's Party (EPP), which also includes the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ).
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