Croatian President Ivo Josipovic said on Sunday that there were no obstacles on Croatia's path towards full membership of the European Union, adding that European Council President Herman van Rompuy thought the same.
Josipovic made the statement in Sarajevo where he was attending the World Meeting for Peace, organised by the Community of Saint Egidio from Italy. "There have been no indications of any problems on that road," Josipovic told the press after meeting Van Rompuy.
Josipovic said that he and Van Rompuy had discussed the economic problems of the EU and Croatia, and that the European Council President said he was pleased with the latest assessment of Croatia's credit rating.
"It gives a dose of optimism we all need. I see that people in Europe are also glad about it because not many countries fared as well as Croatia," Josipovic said. He added that they had also discussed the EU's enlargement towards the Western Balkans region.
Commenting on his meeting with members of the tripartite Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Josipovic said that mutual readiness was confirmed to promote good neighbourly relations and that in that context they also discussed demarcation of the state border and ratification of the Tudjman-Izetbegovic agreement of 1999.
"We have to resolve our relations with our neighbours. After sitting in a drawer for so many years, that agreement must finally be sent to Parliament for ratification. We will see the outcome of the vote," Josipovic said.
He said that during the ratification process it should be made clear what that agreement was regulating. "It should be made clear whether and to what extent it follows the principle of the Badinter Commission. If it follows that principle in full and if it confirms that the present borders coincide with those of the former Yugoslav republics, then I think that the agreement should be simply ratified as such without much consideration. If that is not the case, if the borders should be changed, if Croatia is to lose parts of the territory that once belonged to the Socialist Republic of Croatia or is to gain some, that should be stated very clearly and transparently, and also if the government proposes ratification, it must say clearly what the benefits of it are and why we are doing it. It must explain that to the people."
Josipovic said he hoped that the border issue would be settled in the best possible way, adding that after so many years it was necessary to initiate the ratification process.
The Croatian president was also due to meet with the Archbishop of Sarajevo, Cardinal Vinko Puljic, and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti.
