The European Union (EU) said on Monday that it was seeking to work out a "conditional roadmap" for Croatia to join the 27-member bloc in the hope that technical negotiations on the country's integration into the EU could be wrapped up by the end of 2009.
This was announced by European Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn at a press conference following the fourth meeting of the EU-Croatia Stabilization and Association Council in Luxembourg.
The meeting welcomed the advancement of the accession negotiations, which continue to be on the right track.
However, Rehn stressed that Croatia still needs to accelerate reforms in "a number of areas" -- the justice reforms, the fight against corruption and public administration reforms in particular.
Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, also expressed his satisfaction with Croatia's efforts in joining the EU and hoped that Croatia could achieve the ultimate goal as quickly as possible.
The meeting praised Croatia's implementation of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), which "has largely continued without major difficulty" and welcomed Croatia's continued full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
It welcomed the progress made in the area of regional cooperation and underlined the importance of regional cooperation and good neighborly relations in the process of moving toward the EU.
Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Jandrokovic told reporters that Croatia had achieved a "high-level credibility" thanks to a series of reform efforts for joining the EU.
The reforms are not only aimed at joining the EU, but also at improving the living standards of the people, he added.
He said that Croatia is fully aware of the difficulties and huge challenges ahead on the path to the EU, but "there will be no alternative to the goal of joining the EU."
It is widely predicted that Croatia will be the first among the West Balkan nations to join the EU -- possibly around 2010.
Source:Xinhua
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