First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign and European Affairs Minister Vesna Pusić held talks with her Ukrainian counterpart Leonid Kozhara, who was on an official visit to Croatia. This was the first meeting of the two countries' foreign ministers since 2005. One of the topics was the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius, which Croatia for the first time will attend as a full-fledged EU member. Ukraine has closed the talks on two agreements with the EU – the Association Agreement and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA), which are expected to be signed at the summit in November.
"Croatia strongly supports the signing of the two agreements between the EU and Ukraine," Pusić said, hopeful that all the preconditions would be met on time, as that was in the interest of both the EU and Ukraine. She said there was great interest in the entire EU for these agreements to be signed and that both sides worked towards that.
The two ministers also talked about energy policy, agriculture, tourism and culture as potential for the development of bilateral cooperation. Croatia is already cooperating with Ukraine in other areas, such as helicopter repair. Zagreb could help Kiev with its experience in reform implementation, the most recent among the EU members.