ZAGREB, CROATIA – Bilateral issues should not be raised to the level of negotiations with the European Union. They must stay bilateral and they cannot be the reason for blocking the negotiations of a country, Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said on Tuesday after a meeting with his Albanian counterpart, Sali Berisha. 

- We should affirm that European principle which has been in effect so far: bilateral issues should not be raised to the level of negotiations with the European Union and they should stay bilateral. They cannot be used to block the negotiations of a country – Sanader said. Berisha stressed that Croatia’s membership in the European Union was important for the entire region.

Due to open issues with Slovenia, 11 negotiating chapters have been blocked, Sanader recalled, stressing that “this is not just not good for Croatia, but it is also not good for the rest of south-eastern Europe. If Croatia is blocked, then it is logical that everything else will come into question”.

He voiced hope that this problem would be solved in front of the International Court of Justice in The Hague as had been agreed on Bled in August 2007.

‘NATO is much more than a military and defence alliance’ 

The two prime ministers voiced satisfaction with the fact that the process of ratifying the NATO Membership Protocol is nearing its end, adding that it would be completed by the end of next February or the beginning of March so Croatia and Albania could become NATO members at a summit in April.

- For us, NATO is not just a military and security alliance. NATO is much more than that. NATO is an organisation that shares joint values and Croatia and Albania want to share those same values – Sanader said.

The same goes for the European Union, Sanader stressed. Croatia fully supports Albania’s European aspirations and will help it on its way towards the EU, Sanader said, announcing that Croatia’s chief negotiator for the EU, Vladimir Drobnjak, would soon visit Albania to recall Croatia’s experiences in talks with Albanian colleagues.

Berisha called the soon entry of Albania and Croatia into NATO “the greatest success” that arrives as a result of support of the United States to the two countries.