First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Vesna Pusić 8 April received a delegation of the Bundestag's German-Croatian interparliamentary friendship group, led by Horst Meierhofer. Meierhofer said that “even if there were individual positions on it, the post-accession monitoring of Croatia is not the Bundestag’s position,” adding that Germany recognized Croatia’s efforts. He said Croatia had more demanding negotiations and that it had prepared well. “We are looking forward to 1 July,” Meierhofer said.
Pusić said that all indicators showed Croatia had used the negotiations to lay the foundations for state institutions and had become an average European country, “which does not mean we won’t strive to be even better,” she said. The German MPs wanted to know how Croatian citizens saw the EU, adding that Germany profited from joining it, but that they were aware that some viewed the Union more critically.
The minister said Croatian citizens expected stability in the EU and that during the accession Croatia had built state institutions, which was “extremely important for such a young country”. She also discussed the solving of the shipyards issue, stressing that it was crucial that all of the actors were involved, from syndicates to state representatives, which meant the solution was a joint effort.