Tuesday, 9 June 2009
PRESIDENT OF THE ASSEMBLY, MR. TRAJKO VELJANOSKI, RECEIVED THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE OF THE CROATIAN PARLIAMENT, MR. NEVEN MIMICA
During the meeting, the highly developed relations between the two countries were once again confirmed, including the relations between the two parliaments. Particular emphasis was made to the European orientation of the two countries, and the role of the Parliaments in the EU integration. President Veljanoski stressed the importance of the regional cooperation in the Euro-Atlantic integration process. While recalling that one project of that nature was the accession to the NATO of the countries of the Adriatic Group, he mentioned the fact that although having fulfilled the required criteria, Macedonia has not joined Croatia and Albania into NATO due to the absurd name problem imposed by our neighbour. Therefore he underlined that international principles and standards have to be respected in the integration processes. 'Nevertheless', said President Veljanoski, 'we remain faithful to our Euro-Atlantic commitment, because we are doing the reforms for us, for our citizens, and we expect that the European institutions will accordingly assess our accomplishments'.
The President of the European Affairs Committee of the Croatian Parliament, Mr. Neven Mimica stressed that during the visit to the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia and the contacts with his colleagues from the Assembly's committees, the high-level of bilateral cooperation was confirmed as well as the European commitment of the two countries. 'In Croatia, we expect that Macedonia will soon be given visa liberalisation and date for starting the negotiations. We are similarly blocked by our neighbour in this process, but like Macedonia, Croatia continues the reforms. That is the best illustration that we are part of Europe and that without the integration of all the countries of the region, the European integration process cannot be complete ', stressed Mr. Mimica.