Croatia hosted a meeting of US-Adriatic Charter.
NATO and the United States want to continue to stay involved and present in Southeast Europe and contribute to stability of this part of the continent, said on Friday in Zagreb Croatian Foreign Minister Davor Ivo Stier after a meeting of the Partnership Commission of the US-Adriatic Charter.
The meeting discussed the current political situation in Southeast Europe and the ongoing security challenges faced by the countries of the area, such as hybrid threats, terrorism, and other threats we need to face together, said Stier.
The US-Adriatic Charter is an initiative established in 2003 in order to promote Euro-Atlantic integration in Southeast Europe, with the ultimate goal of helping member states enter the NATO alliance.
The meeting in Zagreb was attended by a representative of the United States, and foreign ministers of member states – Croatia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia. The event was also attended by representatives of Kosovo, Slovenia and Serbia, which are observer states.
“At the meeting, we welcomed the pending membership of Montenegro in NATO, and we have also touched upon relations of Macedonia with the Alliance and its aspiration for membership which we support, as well as the Euro-Atlantic path of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, said the Croatian Foreign Minister, stressing that full membership in the Charter remains open to other countries of Southeast Europe which express their interest.
“We welcome the fact, by coming to the today’s meeting, Serbia demonstrated its intention to cooperate with NATO, which is in our interest as well”, said Stier.
The event also marked the end of the Croatian presidency of the Charter in 2016, the Minister added. Next year, the presidency will be taken by Macedonia.
Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki expressed his belief that his state would follow Croatia on its Euro-Atlantic path, and highlighted the fact that Zagreb will be the “contact embassy” for Macedonia’s accession to NATO in 2017.
“Macedonia’s presidency of the Charter will put into focus the issue of our neighbours and our relations with them, the strengthening of our security cooperation and the path toward common prosperity”, said Poposki. “At the end of the day, the better the relations, stability and predictability of us as a region, the better it will be for all of us”, concluded the Macedonian Minister.
