The ministers agreed that the bilateral relations are very good, friendly and unburdened by outstanding issues
The ministers agreed that the bilateral relations are very good, friendly and unburdened by outstanding issues. They pointed out the dynamic exchange of visits by the two countries’ officials, including the previous year’s official visit by Minister Jandroković to Norway. They agreed that the crown of the intensive contacts would be the pending visit by King Harald V of Norway to Croatia.
The ministers expressed satisfaction with the level of economic cooperation, singling out the two events that are to take place precisely during the visit by King Harald V and will stimulate the strengthening of the bilateral trade balance. Zagreb is to host 12 May 2011 the Croatia-Norway Forum of Excellence, while the next day will see the official opening of the iNavis Center in Šibenik, which will offer the tow countries with a rich maritime and shipbuilding history an opportunity to develop modern technology in the maritime-oriented branches of economy. Minister Jandroković also thanked for the assistance Norway had been continuously offering Croatia since its gaining of independence through various forms of development aid.
The minister informed his Norwegian colleague about the status of Croatia’s EU accession negotiations, pointing out the progress achieved at the intergovernmental conference the day before, which had seen the closing of additional two negotiation chapters. He also familiarized him with the actions the Croatian side was taking in the final phase of the negotiations aimed at closing the rest of the chapters and completing the negotiations by the end of the Hungarian EU presidency in June this year.
Minister Støre expressed firm support for Croatia’s EU membership, saying he was convinced the negotiations would be closed in a couple of weeks. He added that Croatia and Norway were successfully cooperating within NATO.
He pointed out that over 100,000 Norwegian tourists visited Croatia each year, making for a strong bond between the two countries and their citizens.
The ministers also exchanged opinions about the current political and security situation in the region of South Eastern Europe and reviewed the course of NATO’s operation in Libya.
Minister Jandroković informed Minister Størea about the views of the Croatian state leadership regarding the Hague Tribunal’s recent verdicts, as well as the legal actions to disprove the thesis about a joint criminal enterprise.
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