State Secretary Davor Božinović received European Parliament’s Director General for Translation and Interpreting Juana Lahousse-Juarez

Emphasizing that all indicators point to the fact that Croatia could soon become a member, Director General Lahousse-Juarez said that the Directorate for Translation and Interpreting is taking initial steps to set up a department for translating to the official language of the Republic of Croatia. Since all official European Parliament’s documents have to be available in all of the member countries’ official languages, this will go for the official language of the Republic of Croatia as well.

State Secretary Božinović expressed satisfaction over Croatian becoming the 24th official language of the European Union as soon as Croatia becomes its member. He pointed out the importance of maintaining a country’s identity through language, adding that Croatia wishes to promote its lingual and cultural heritage in the EU. Once Croatia becomes a member, its citizens will be equal to other members’ citizens in a linguistic sense as well, and will communicate through the EU institutions in their mother tongue.

State Secretary Božinović noted the efforts Croatia has so far undertaken in its EU accession process, emphasizing its determination to continue carrying out the necessary reforms with undiminished intensity and complete the negotiations by end-2009.