First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Vesna Pusić is attending a meeting of the Central European Initiative (CEI) in Orhid. In her address, Pusić said that CEI brought together countries that were part of the EU but also those that were waiting to join it. She said that the Western Balkans had a European prospect, but that it was currently important to maintain the prospect of its EU membership. Pusić underscored it was important for those countries as well as the entire region and its stability. Croatia will continue to work with neighbouring countries on necessary reforms and also with European institutions so that the region's European prospects could remain in the EU's focus, she said.
Pusić emphasized the need for economic cooperation between CEI countries and the need to promote the region as a single investment area, particularly with regard to the Middle East and Latin American countries, which, she said, would not come to invest in one country only but were interested in the entire region as a single investment environment.
If there is a common interest shared by countries in the region, that certainly has to be political stability which comes first, Pusić said, adding that if there is no stability in one part of the region, it will certainly impact trade in and the attractiveness of all the countries of the region. That is why the EU accession process has to go hand in hand with reforms and strengthening of institutional capacities, she said.
Pusić added that one area of cooperation was energy security. Countries that are currently not involved in that cooperation, for instance Macedonia, need to do so because energy is important not just for Macedonia but for all of us, she said. She added that CEI foreign ministers had focused on other issues and countries at their previous meeting, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina. Now it’s time to jointly work on the issue of Macedonia, as there is a lot to be done there, Pusić said. She added that it was important to define a strategy for Macedonia that would bring it closer to the European path.