France Supports Croatia’s EU Membership

France fully supports Croatia’s bid to become the 28th member of the European Union, stated Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader on Thursday in Paris after talks with French Prime Minister Francois Fillon.

"I listened with great interest to Prime Minister Fillon who gives full support to Croatia, that it must be the 28th member of the EU. Fillon announced to me that French President Nicolas Sarkozy would tell me this on Monday," said Sanader after the talks with the French Prime Minister. Prime Minister Sanader was also supposed to meet with French President Sarkozy on Thursday afternoon, but that meeting was postponed to Monday due to the French head of state’s busy schedule. The two prime ministers exchanged views on the economic and financial crisis, Croatia’s accession negotiations with the EU, NATO membership, and the situation in Croatia’s neighborhood.

Sanader said that Fillon was interested in every detail of the open border issue with Slovenia."I presented our position and said that it is best to resolve it legally. We expect that negotiations will soon be unblocked; bilateral issues should not be an obstacle for any country on its path to the EU. This is a principle affirmed in the EU, and we expect it to be applied in this case," said Sanader. When asked whether Fillon expressed a preference for a political or legal solution to the border issue, Sanader briefly replied: "You know that in diplomacy, especially at the highest levels, we do not speak about that; I will leave it to Prime Minister Fillon to say. I can say that I am satisfied with the conversation."

Sanader announced that he would meet with Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor next week "if we agree precisely on the date, place, and conditions." The Croatian Prime Minister believes that Slovenia, with a statement made in parliament claiming it had access to the open sea, is further fueling the fire."Last night, the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted to such a conclusion from the Slovenian parliament, and I expect that the Croatian Parliament will also comment on it. This is simply not true, and I believe that it only adds fuel to the fire. What is not good is that Slovenia, despite the fact that parliament ratified the protocol, is creating additional problems regarding our NATO membership, and in fact, is creating problems for itself. It is not good that NATO depends on some political games that simply make no sense. I expect that Croatia will be a full member of NATO at the summit in Strasbourg and Kehl," said Sanader.

Sanader dismissed speculation that this year is lost for completing negotiations with the EU."Why should we say that it is in question? For us, there is the fact that the European Commission announced it and did not say that it is impossible. Therefore, we in Croatia are discussing something that the European Commission is not considering; for us, there is a progress report from early November last year when it was said that Croatia could complete negotiations by the end of 2009. Of course, the condition for that is the unblocking by Slovenia," said the Croatian Prime Minister.

Sanader mentioned that there was considerable discussion with Fillon about Croatia’s southeastern neighborhood. He announced that he would visit Serbia in the middle of next month and that he would soon visit Montenegro. He also informed Fillon that he met with leaders of the most important political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina."France and Croatia share a common interest in achieving lasting political stabilization in Southeast Europe. Croatia can do a lot here, and we will continue to do so, and we will not turn our backs on the neighborhood, and today was an extremely content-rich day," said Sanader. Before meeting with Fillon, Sanader spoke with members of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the European Affairs Committee of the French National Assembly. (H)