1

CROATIAN STATE SECRE-

TARY BOZINOVIC VISITS

WASHINGTON DC ........... 2

CROATIAN-GERMAN

BUSINESS FORUM HELD IN

ZAGREB........................ 3

Croatia monthly N E W S L ET T ER O F T H E EM B AS S Y O F T H E R E PU B L I C

O F C R O AT I A T O T H E U N I T E D ST AT E S O F AM E R I C A

At the intergovernmental accession conference held on June 30 in Brussels, Croatia opened three final chapters in negotiations:

Competition Policy, Judiciary and Fundamental Rights and Foreign, Security and Defense Policy; whereas closed Public Procure-

ment and Taxation. Croatia has now opened all 33 negotiating chapters and 20 chapters have already been closed .

Croatia opens 3 final chapters in EU negotiations EU Enlargement Commissioner

Stefan Fuele said in a press statement that

the accession treaty with Croatia could be

signed during Hungary’s EU presidency,

namely in the first half of 2011. He also

said that the European Commission could

announce more specific dates concerning

Croatia’s EU entry in a progress report this

November.

Croatian Minister of Foreign Af-

fairs and European Integration Gordan Jan-

drokovic, who led the Croatian delegation

at the conference, said that this accession

conference was one of the most important

in the negotiations so far. “Croatia is run-

ning the last 110-metre hurdles after a long

and successful marathon. The opening of

Chapter 23, Judiciary and Fundamental

Rights, is hugely important not only be-

cause of its complicated content, but be-

cause it is a clear acknowledgement of

Croatia’s achievements in that field”, Min-

ister Jandrokovic said. “Meeting all closing

benchmarks will be a top priority of the

Croatian government in the coming period.

The closing benchmarks for Chapter 23 are

the best chance for Croatia to show EU

countries that it is completely ready for

membership”, Minister said. He also said

that the goal is to be 100 per cent ready

when the time comes to join the EU adding

that he expected the bulk of negotiation

chapters to be closed by the end of the

year, so that the accession treaty could be

signed under Hungary’s EU presidency in

the first half of 2011.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of

Spain, Miguel Angel Moratinos said that

he was pleased with the progress that Croa-

tia had achieved under the EU’s Spanish

presidency, when it opened 3 and closed 5

negotiation chapters. He stressed that the

EU, with this breakthrough in the negotia-

tions with Croatia, was sending out an un-

equivocal message that its door are open to

other countries as well

Summer of good news On behalf of the entire Embassy team, I would like to welcome you to the 5th issue of our monthly

newsletter. We’re proud to inform you that Croatia opened the 3 final negotiation chapters with the EU. Excel-

lent bilateral relations with the USA were yet again confirmed during the visit of the State Secretary for Political

Affairs Davor Bozinovic. We’re proud to say that the first Croatian representative was among the graduates of

the Transatlantic Diplomatic Fellows Program for 2009-2010. at the U.S. Department of State. Enjoy reading

Ambassador Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic

VISIT CROATIA AND EX-

PLORE IT’S BEAUTIES ...... 4

No. 5/2010

2

On July 2nd the U.S.

Ambassador in the Republic of

Croatia, James Foley visited DOK

-ING production facilities to take

over six new mine clearance ma-

chines. The company has been

supplying the U.S. Army with

Mine Clearance Systems since

2004. The Contract is worth 45

million USD and the total supply

planned will be 69 machines in

next the two years.

“We’re very proud to

have been working with DOK-

ING for the last six years and

we’re planning to continue our

cooperation. It is a big thing to

work with them and to save lives

all around the world”, said Am-

bassador Foley.

“In the time of recession

a job like this is important for our

existence. In addition, the quality

that we have achieved to satisfy

our customers has improved the

overall business climate here in

Croatia”, said Vjekoslav Majetic,

CEO of the company DOK-ING

Croatian company DOK-ING delivers Mine

Clearance Systems for US Army

Croatian State Secretary Bozinovic visits Washington, DC

State Secretary for Political Affairs

at the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

and European Integration, Mr. Davor Bozino-

vic visited Washington DC, from June 28

until June 30. During his visit he held a lec-

ture at the German Marshall Fund about Euro

-Atlantic Integration of Croatia and Southeast

Europe. State Secretary Bozinovic underlined

the key role that the expansion of NATO and

European Union has had for peace and pros-

perity in Europe.

At the White House, State Secretary

Bozinovic meet with Director for Central and

Eastern Europe on the U.S. National Security

Council Jeffrey Hovenier, and President Vice

President Biden’s special advisor on Euro-

pean Affairs, Taylor Ruggles. State Secretary

Bozinovic said that those meetings confirmed

that the recent meeting between Croatian PM

Jadranka Kosor and U.S. Vice President Joe

Biden was very significant and that it was

held at the right time for Croatia.

State Secretary Bozinovic also had

meetings at the Pentagon, where he talked

with Assistant Secretary of Defense for Inter-

national Security Affairs Alexander Ver-

shbow and with the Deputy Assistant Secre-

tary of Defense for Afghanistan, Pakistan and

Central Asia, David Samuel Sedney.

At the U.S. Department of State he

met with Assistant Secretary of State for

Europe and Eurasian Affairs Philip Gordon,

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near

Eastern Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman and Deputy

Special Representative for Afghanistan and

Pakistan Dan Feldman and Principle Deputy

Assistant Secretary Nancy McEldowney.

On the Hill he had meeting with

senator Mark Begich, with whom he talked

about the security situation in Afghanistan.

He also met with the Chairman of the U.S.

House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on

Europe, Bill Delahunt. Congressman Dela-

hunt congratulated Croatia on progress made

in its EU entry talks

Transatlantic Diplomatic

Fellows for 2009-2010.

A ceremony commemorat-

ing the contributions of Transatlantic

Diplomatic Fellows for 2009-2010

was held on June 18 at the U.S. De-

partment of State.

For the first time, among

them was a Croatian representative,

diplomatic attaché Dino Mihanovic.

He spent the last year at the US De-

partment of State as desk officer for

Austria and Lichtenstein. Deputy

Secretary of State James B. Steinberg

stressed in his remarks the impor-

tance of this program for establishing

communications channels between

American and European diplomats.

Also, Transatlantic Diplomatic Fel-

lows met with the U.S. Secretary of

State Hillary Rodham Clinton

On June 17, at

Croatian Embassy, Dr.

Steven Zivko Pavletic,

MD, talked about the

American-Croatian col-

laboration in the field of

oncology. The lecture

was well attended

The Croatian Hour Continues

3

Croatian-German business forum held in Zagreb Economic cooperation between Croatia and Germany will be boosted in the coming period by the prospect of the two

economies overcoming the crisis and by Croatia’s imminent membership in the European Union, it was said at a Croa-

tian-German business forum in Zagreb on June 15.

The two-day event was organised

by the German Committee on Eastern

European Economic Relations, the German

-Croatian Chamber of Industry and Com-

merce, and German and Croatian diplo-

matic offices. Croatia is the leading coun-

try in the region in many aspects and it is

important for the operation of German

companies in Southeast Europe, said chair-

man of the German Com-

mittee on Eastern European

Economic Relations, Klaus

Mangold. The president of

the German-Croatian Cham-

ber of Industry and Com-

merce, Ralf Blomberg, said

that members of the Cham-

ber believed that conditions

were improving for the de-

velopment of Croatian-

German economic coopera-

tion and that Croatia's forth-

coming membership of the

EU offered the best chance

of it being stepped up.

Two loan agreements in the

amount of EUR 50 million were signed

between the German development bank

Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau (KfW)

and the Croatian Reconstruction and De-

velopment Bank (HBOR). The funding

provided under the loan agreements is in-

tended for the financing of projects in tour-

ism and new investments by small and

medium enterprises in Croatia that will

boost their competitiveness as well as the

creation of new jobs and the preservation

of the existing ones, HBOR official said.

The first, EUR 30 million loan agreement,

refers to the financing of tourism projects,

and the other agreement, in the amount of

EUR 20 million, refers to the funding of

micro, small and medium enterprises. The

EUR 20 million loan agreement is a sec-

ond credit line supported by the European

Commission as part of a programme for

the financing of small and medium enter-

prises. Along with the two loans, HBOR

will also be granted donations in the

amount of EUR 2.5 million, to be used for

performance bonuses, as well as EUR

170,000 in technical assistance.

The German-Croatian forum drew

several hundred participants, which makes

it one of the biggest meetings of Croatian

and German business people since Croatia

gained independence

The Government of the Republic of Croatia and the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Council of Ministers) held

their first joint session on June 21 in Split . PM Jadranka Kosor and Chairman of Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Her-

zegovina Nikola Spiric said that the session was very successful and that another one would be held in Brcko, Bosnia

and Herzegovina, before Bosnian general elections set for October.

At the beginning of the session PM Jadranka Kosor

stressed that this is a very important session and a historic mo-

ment because Croatia and Bosnia and Her-

zegovina are beginning an even closer coop-

eration. “We want to strengthen our eco-

nomic and cross-border cooperation as well

as promote cooperation in science, technol-

ogy and culture”, the PM said. Chairman of

Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herze-

govina Nikola Spiric addressing the session,

thanked Croatia for its support to Bosnia

and Herzegovina on its path to Euro-

Atlantic associations.

After the joint government session, the two sides signed

an agreement on cooperation in the field of information society

and electronic communications, and initialed an agreement on

cooperation in fighting cross-border crime. PM Kosor underlined

the importance of the agreement on cooperation in the fight

against cross-border crime, saying that it would contribute to the

prevention of crime and corruption.

The session also discussed coop-

eration in the construction of transport infra-

structure, starting from the transport corri-

dor 5C to bridges on the Sava River. “Talks

on that will continue”, PM Kosor said, reit-

erating that Croatia, as a NATO member

and a country soon to join the EU, would

continue providing friendly and good

neighborly support to Bosnia and Herzego-

vina on its path to Euro-Atlantic associa-

tions. The Chairman of Council of Ministers, Nikola Spiric said

that session reaffirmed that the good neighborly relations be-

tween Bosnia and Croatia were based on mutual respect for their

sovereignty and territorial integrity

Joint Session of Governments of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina held in Split

4

© The Croatia Monthly is a free electronic newsletter published monthly by the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia to the United

States of America, 2343 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20008-2803. Tel:+(202) 588 5899; Fax:+(202) 588 8937.

Executive Editor: Ambassador Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic. Deputy Executive Editor: Deputy Chief of Mission Vice Skracic.

Executive Director: Sanja Milinovic, Third Secretary. All rights reserved. It is forbidden to reproduce this newsletter, use it to

make other works, distribute to the public or publicly display it without previous consent and authorization of the Embassy.

Plan your summer holidays in beautiful Croatia Every year during summer time Croatia is one of the most visited locations in the world. Here are some photos of

Croatia to remind you how beautiful it is. Next time when you are thinking where to go, don't think twice—choose the

Mediterranean as it once was: choose Croatia.