After the extended support by the President of the European Commission, Mr. Constantine Simitis, Greek Prime Minister, Mr. Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission, Mr. Chris Patten, EU External Affairs Commissioner, Mr. Günther Verheugen, EU Enlargement Commissioner, and Mr. Javier Solana, UN High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Croatia appreciates the positive assessment of Mr. Pat Cox, President of the European Parliament, that Croatia will be prepared to join EU in 2007, together with Rumania and Bulgaria.
Positive perception of the Croatian candidacy is an additional incentive to the Republic of Croatia to speed up the necessary reforms in order to make up for lost time and be ready for the next round of EU enlargement.