(Hina) - Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Vesna Pusić on Friday received her Austrian counterpart Sebastian Kurz and during their talks they confirmed that their countries had developed friendly relations and partnership.
Kurz, 27, visited Croatia as his first foreign destination four days after his appointment as foreign minister.
"Austria and Croatia have excellent cooperation and cherish a long tradition of excellent cooperation, however, now we have an opportunity for new energy in our relations and in our joint work, both in the European Union and in our region and third countries," Pusić told a news conference after the talks in Zagreb.
The two ministers agreed on a possibility for Croatian diplomats in some other countries to be accommodated on the premises of Austrian embassies or consulates.
Pusić and Kurz considered launching an initiative for a trilateral meeting of foreign ministers from Austria, Croatia and Slovenia.
Strong friendship and long tradition of partnership have been the reasons for me to choose Croatia for my first visit abroad, Kurz said, explaining that visiting the European Union's newcomer, he wanted also to send a signal to Brussels that great faith was placed in Croatia and that other countries in the region should be given access to the EU.
Kurz said that his country was also positively looking at the EU foreign ministers' approval of opening accession negotiations with Serbia on 21 January.
He said that it would be a great day for the Western Balkans, a region which would remain high on the agenda of the Austrian foreign policy.
We are neighbours and it is our interest to see that region being stable and developing economically, the Austrian foreign minister said.
Pusić agreed that EU membership was a way to stabilise countries and regions.