U.S. – Adriatic Charter Conference

OHRID, MACEDONIA, September 26-28 -  A conference on the implementation of the U.S. - Adriatic Charter and building the security system in the region was held in Ohrid, Macedonia.

Croatian Minister of Foreign Affairs Tonino Picula, his Macedonian counterpart Ilinka Mitreva and Albanian Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Luan Hajdarag, ministers of foreign affairs of Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey, as well as representatives of NATO and the European Union and European and American experts participated at the conference.

In her opening address at the conference, Macedonian Foreign Minister Ilinka Mitreva said the doors to the Adriatic Charter were open for Serbia-Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Croatia is reinforcing bilateral cooperation with Macedonia and Albania since it wishes to live in a safe environment which will be ruled by the spirit of cooperation, economic progress and mutual respect, said Croatian Minister of Foreign Affairs Tonino Picula.

Croatia's strategic goals are membership in the European Union and NATO as well as regional cooperation with all democracies, Picula said, adding that these goals were based on the strengthening of democratic values and their implementation.

Picula said Croatia was willing to share with countries in the region the experience it had gained in the Euro-Atlantic integration process. Picula also said "surplus cooperation can't be harmful but one must see to it that regional cooperation doesn't become a substitute for the efforts we are making at home”, adding that “we have to resolve some problems by ourselves, and some jointly."

Commenting on the many regional initiatives, Picula said "different countries use them for different purposes" and that "Croatia has always felt that an excessive number of initiatives should not become a replacement for their usefulness".

During the conference, Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula and Albanian and Macedonian officials said in a joint statement their countries would strongly support Serbia-Montenegro's and Bosnia-Herzegovina's joining NATO's Partnership for Peace program and Membership Action Plan as it would contribute to European security.

Croatia, Albania and Macedonia would relay their positions to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, to their colleagues in the Vilnius Group, as well as to their colleagues in NATO.

The implementation of the Adriatic Charter will be debated at a Vilnius Group summit in Bratislava next year and at a NATO summit in Istanbul in May.

The U.S. - Adriatic Charter is a further step to strengthen the partnership between Croatia, Macedonia and Albania regarding the fast implementation of reforms and the adoption of standards necessary for joining NATO as fast as possible.

The U.S. - Adriatic Charter on Partnership between Croatia, Albania, Macedonia and the U.S. was signed in Tirana on May 2 this year by the ministers of foreign affairs of the three countries and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.