Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas said on Tuesday that his country fully supports Croatia's membership of NATO and the European Union, said reports reaching here from the Croatian capital of Zagreb.
Kirkilas, whose country joined the NATO and the European Union in 2004, made the remarks following talks with his Croatian counterpart Ivo Sanader, the Croatian official news agency HINA reported.
Kirkilas congratulated Croatia on receiving an invitation to join the NATO at the alliance's Bucharest summit in early April, recalling that Croatia and Lithuania were successfully cooperating in the NATO mission in Afghanistan.
Croatia has said it hoped to become a NATO member by mid next year and that membership of the alliance will boost the country's chances of joining the European Union soon.
Croatia's foreign affairs ministry said on Tuesday that Croatia has formally accepted the NATO's invitation to launch negotiations on the alliance's membership for the Western Balkan country.
Sanader thanked Lithuania for supporting Croatia's accession to NATO and the EU.
Lithuania most strongly supported Croatia at the NATO summit in Bucharest, Sanader said, adding that Lithuania also supported Croatia's joining the EU.
Sanader said "Croatia can expect to complete the EU negotiations at the end of summer 2009."
Kirkilas reiterated his belief that Croatia could be invited tojoin the European Union in 2010, underlining that Croatia's EU entry talks must be completed in 2009.
The two premiers said the two countries' relations were very good, adding that their cooperation could be advanced in the economy and culture.
Source:Xinhua
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