Brussels, 04/04/2001 (Agence Europe) - Having been in Skopje on Monday, the Commissioner responsible for external relations, Chris Patten continued his rounds of the Balkans by going to Croatia on Tuesday, and Albania on Wednesday. In Croatia, Commissioner Patten met the government to discuss negotiations over a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) between the European Union and Croatia, launched at the Zagreb Summit last November.
In Albania, the Commissioner was to attend the second meeting of the high-level steering group on Albania. Albania, of which the EU has asked to undertake reforms before beginning to negotiate a Stabilisation and Association Agreement, is said to have made progress, but Patten's visit is alleged to be intended to underpin the importance of going further, especially in legislation implementation. The Commissioner was also to mark the EU's approval of Tirana's "moderate statements" regarding the crisis in Macedonia.