Meeting between An Taoiseach and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, Dr Ivo Sanader

The Taoiseach, Mr Brian Cowen T.D., met today with the Prime Minister of Croatia, Dr Ivo Sanader, for a wide-ranging discussion of issues of mutual interest. This was their first meeting, although Dr. Sanader had previously visited Ireland in 2006.

The main focus of the meeting was on Croatia’s accession negotiations. Prime Minister Sanader informed the Taoiseach of the substantial progress achieved by Croatia this year. Prime Minister Sanader emphasised Croatia’s strong wish to see a timetable for its accession to the European Union agreed in 2008. The Taoiseach commended Croatia for the significant reforms that had been implemented to date and looked forward to an acceleration of reforms as Croatia enters the final challenging stages of its accession negotiations. The Taoiseach assured Prime Minister Sanader of Ireland’s full support for Croatian membership of the European Union.

The two leaders discussed the Lisbon Treaty and the referendum result. The Taoiseach assured Prime Minister Sanader that enlargement had not been an issue in the Irish referendum campaign. The Taoiseach said that he believed that the Lisbon Treaty result would not impact on the negotiation process and encouraged the Croatian government to maintain the momentum of reform.

The Taoiseach and Prime Minister of Croatia also discussed regional issues, the financial crisis and further strengthening of bilateral relations.

9 October 2008