(Hina) - Croatia is better today than in 2009 when it entered NATO, Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Vesna Pusić said in the southern Montenegrin coastal town of Bar on Wednesday, during a debate on NATO’s Open Door Policy.
Montenegro hopes to join the alliance in the near future, but first it most meet a number of criteria, just as Croatia had to do before joining NATO, Pusić said.
“We had to go through a lot, you are not the only one. We had to meet more criteria and demands than anyone else. But in the process, we advanced our institutions which was to the benefit of our citizens, and now things are better, more efficient and more transparent,” Pusić said.
“This way, Croatia is most definitely better, as a result of this process, as a result of membership.”
According to Pusić, Croatia prospered in the economic sense as well because NATO membership offers security to investors. Pusić said at a panel debate, held as part of an informal visit of NATO foreign ministers (Friends of Enlargement) to Montenegro. Apart from Pusić, the debate was also attended by ministers from Romania, Hungary and Poland.
Croatia advocates Montenegro’s NATO entry and it had hoped Montenegro would be invited already at the NATO summit in Wales in 2014. “We believed you were ready for the summit in Wales, we know you are ready because we are neighbours, we cooperate and we monitor your progress and we have always claimed that each country should be judged according to its own merits,” Pusić said.
“Once you meet the criteria, you should receive an invitation,” Pusić said.
Although Montenegro did not receive an invitation in Wales, a compromise solution had been reaches so that Montenegro would not have to wait until the next summit in Warsaw in 2016, Pusić said adding that a decision would be made by NATO foreign ministers by the end of this year.
Security sector reform is no longer on the top of the list of main issues ahead of NATO membership and that is a good sign, Pusić said, adding that this meant that true progress had been made. The main issues for Montenegro now are public support and the rule of law, she added.
Montenegro is significantly contributing to the regional stability, Pusić concluded.