Croatian President Ivo Josipovic in London on Wednesday met with Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom which symbolically confirms the excellent relations between Great Britain and Croatia which will become a member of the European Union on July 1.
The British Queen is a symbol of Great Britain's sovereignty and she enjoys a huge reputation here and it is important at that symbolic level to confirm our partnership, good cooperation and excellent relations, President Josipovic told the press after the reception at Buckingham Palace.
The longest reigning European monarch received President Josipovic at Buckingham Palace with the highest state honours.
The reception by Queen Elizabeth II was organised after London formally completed the ratification process of Croatia's EU accession treaty and deposited the ratification documents with the Italian government as the depositor of the Rome Treaty.
President Josipovic added that the Queen, who last year celebrated 60 years as the country's monarch, was interested what Croatia's membership of the Union meant for the country and how Croatian citizens experienced this event. Elizabeth II expressed her satisfaction that the country was enthusiastically joining the bloc and that European partnership would be useful for Croatia and Europe.
On the first day of his visit to Great Britain, Croatia's president met with Justice Secretary Chris Grayling and after the meeting, Josipovic said that Britain had positively assessed reforms that had been carried out in Croatia.
During Croatia's EU negotiation process Britain had been quite critical toward the chapter dealing with the judiciary and war crimes proceedings.
"Reforms we conducted and these have been positively assessed. Naturally, we know that our judiciary and society aren't perfect, just like no other society is perfect and that is why we are expected to continue with reforms", Josipovic said.
President Josipovic also met Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Vince Cable and a special lunch was prepared in the President's honour by Baroness Frances D'Souza, currently the Lord Speaker of the House of Lords.
Josipovic is expected to meet later with Minister of State at the Foreign Office David Lidington.
Tomorrow President Josipovic is expected to meet with Prime Minister David Cameron at Downing Street.
