Croatia and France have excellent relations in all areas, and their aim is to strengthen their relations now that Croatia is about to join the European Union, French President Francois Hollande and Croatian President Ivo Josipovic said in Paris on Tuesday.
The two presidents met at the Elysee Palace for about 45 minutes after which they addressed the press.
This is the first time we have met, but not the last time because our intention is to strengthen our future relations, especially today when Croatia is on the doorstep of the EU, Hollande said.
Croatia is to become a member next July and France will do all in its power to make that happen. France is most likely to ratify the accession treaty before the end of this year or no later than the beginning of the next, he added.
Hollande said that bilateral relations between Croatia and France would be easier after Croatia joined the EU. He said that already now the two countries had excellent relations in the field of culture, as shown by the ongoing festival of Croatian culture in France.
We also have excellent cooperation in the economic field and we want to strengthen it by working on specific infrastructure projects in Croatia, the French president said.
Hollande said that Croatia should be a factor of stability in the entire Balkans and serve as a model to other countries in the region so that they, too, would meet EU membership requirements, especially those concerning democracy and respect for the rights of minorities.
This conversation with the Croatian president has been an excellent opportunity to strengthen our relations, Hollande concluded.
I am glad that once again I have seen for myself that France is a sincere friend of Croatia, just as it has been since the first day of creation of our young democracy, Josipovic said.
He said that he and his host agreed that cultural, economic and political relations between Croatia and France were exemplary.
We have discussed our cooperation and the future of southeastern Europe, and have agreed that it is in Europe's interest that the entire region should be fully integrated into the European Union one day. We have also talked about Croatia's contribution to that by assisting its neighbours on their path to EU membership, Josipovic said.
We have arranged new meetings and we will be honoured by your visit to Croatia, Josipovic said.
After the meeting, the two presidents headed to the Cluny Museum to open together an exhibition of Croatian medieval art.
