Szegedist
06-13-2013, 09:36 PM
With its official EU accession on July 1, Croatia will return to Central Europe, Croatia’s ambassador to Hungary told MTI in an interview on Thursday.
From a geopolitical point of view, Central Europe is a special region, a buffer zone between east and west, a zone where countries share similar ideals, objectives and interests, Gordan Grlic Radman said.
EU membership will allow Croatia to more closely cooperate with the Visegrad Four, namely the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, he said.
The ambassador thanked the support and help Hungary had provided for his country throughout the entire EU integration process.
He noted that the final chapter sealing Croatia’s membership had been successfully closed just during Hungary’s EU presidency in 2011.
Concerning Croatia’s EU integration process, the ambassador pointed out that Brussels assigned the “greatest amount of homework” to be done by his country.
Grlic Radman attributed the extra load to several member states’ position that Romania and Bulgaria had been admitted in 2007 prematurely, mainly out of political considerations, without being obliged to live up to all accession criteria.
Brussels set several more criteria for Croatia to fulfil, the benefit of which is that the country has become an EU member much more prepared, he said.
Concerning the public’s expectations, the ambassador pointed out that Croatians are optimistic, but maintain a critical stance as well. Croatia in their view has a place in the EU, but maintaining its sovereignty is also important for them, Ambassador Grlic Radman said.
From a geopolitical point of view, Central Europe is a special region, a buffer zone between east and west, a zone where countries share similar ideals, objectives and interests, Gordan Grlic Radman said.
EU membership will allow Croatia to more closely cooperate with the Visegrad Four, namely the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, he said.
The ambassador thanked the support and help Hungary had provided for his country throughout the entire EU integration process.
He noted that the final chapter sealing Croatia’s membership had been successfully closed just during Hungary’s EU presidency in 2011.
Concerning Croatia’s EU integration process, the ambassador pointed out that Brussels assigned the “greatest amount of homework” to be done by his country.
Grlic Radman attributed the extra load to several member states’ position that Romania and Bulgaria had been admitted in 2007 prematurely, mainly out of political considerations, without being obliged to live up to all accession criteria.
Brussels set several more criteria for Croatia to fulfil, the benefit of which is that the country has become an EU member much more prepared, he said.
Concerning the public’s expectations, the ambassador pointed out that Croatians are optimistic, but maintain a critical stance as well. Croatia in their view has a place in the EU, but maintaining its sovereignty is also important for them, Ambassador Grlic Radman said.