Brussels, 15/01/2004 (Agence Europe) - The Head of Croatian diplomacy, Miomir Zuzul, affirmed on Wednesday that his country would be seeking EU accession candidate status next June and aimed to join the Community in 2007 like Romania and Bulgaria, indicated AFP. "Our number one priority is to obtain accession candidate status in June", declared the foreign affairs minister to the press in Zagreb.
Mr Zuzul is expected to meet (in Zagreb) his Slovenian counterpart, Dimitrij Rupel, on Friday to discuss differences that the two countries have on the Adriatic Sea, which arose during the announcement made by Italy and Croatia of their intention to proclaim two exclusive economic zones in the Adriatic Sea. This issue was mentioned during the meeting between Romano Prodi, president of the European Commission, and Ivo Sanader, the new Croatian prime minister (EUROPE 13 January p 6).