Croatia

Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor and her Montenegrin counterpart Milo Djukanovic said in Podgorica on Monday they expected the project to build a highway from southern Montenegro to its border with Serbia in the north to be successfully finalised and that the Croatian consortium involved in the project would provide valid guarantees needed to launch it.

The two prime ministers said that both governments would help the consortium start the project.

The European Parliament has given a positive overall verdict on last year's efforts by Croatia and Macedonia to qualify for EU membership. In resolutions debated and approved yesterday (10 February), MEPs also took note of the limited progress made by Turkey in meeting EU membership criteria.

Croatia is poised to be the first country to join the EU since the accession of Romania and Bulgaria in 2007. Of the 35 chapters, 28 have been opened and 17 have been already closed (see EurActiv LinksDossier).

Newly-elected Croatian President Ivo Josipović said that Croatia is dedicated to leading peaceful policies.

Josipović said that he was not surprised by Serbian President Boris Tadić’s statements before the UN Security Council in which he accused Croatia of “threatening with weapons,” because of the statements of exiting President Stjepan Mesić regarding the possible military intervention in case of a referendum in the Republic of Srpska (RS) for seceding from Bosnia-Herzegovina.