Finland strongly supports Croatia's admission to the EU and we also see other eastern European countries as members sooner or later, but everyone must meet the criteria, the Finnish president said.

Asked about a possible date for the completion of Croatia's EU entry talks and the introduction of a mechanism for monitoring the implementation of assumed obligations, which was mentioned at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday evening, Halonen said membership negotiations should be wrapped up after European institutions jointly decided that the criteria had been met.

She declined to openly speak about a concrete date for the completion of the negotiations but agreed with Josipovic, who said he expected the talks to be wrapped up by the summer, adding that "this would be very fair".

Halonen also declined to state her position concerning the introduction of a monitoring mechanism, but explained why this proposal was made. She said the EU had experience in accession processes in which some members disappointed after previous efforts, which was why the process should be conducted more carefully. She stressed that those expectations did not refer to Croatia and that after accession, member countries must continue meeting the criteria.

Josipovic said he was very optimistic and that he expected the negotiations to be completed in June or July, adding this depended on the European partners and that Croatia did not want to pressure anyone, although it was very important to his country to meet that deadline.

Asked by Finnish reporters' about possible obstacles and hesitation about the date for completing the entry talks, Josipovic said the EU evidently needed more information and that he was confident the Croatian government would provide it.

Both presidents said they were pleased with today's talks, highlighting the good relations of assistance and understanding and a wish to further improve them.