Embassy of Croatia

Washington D. C.

May 31, 2000

        Croatia was officially admitted into NATO's Partnership for Peace in Florence, on May 25. Signing the Framework Document of the Partnership for Peace, Croatia has become the 26th member of Partnership for Peace as well as a member of Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council.

        U.S. Secretary of State,  Madeleine Albright  at a ministerial meeting of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council in Florence, welcomed Croatia as a new member and stated that Croatia’s new leaders deserve enormous credit for the steps they have taken to bring the country closer to the European Community. The new Croatia, as she says, can be a model for others and a key contributor to regional peace and security.

        Croatian Foreign Minister, Tonino Picula, after signing a document on Croatia’s accession to Partnership for Peace, held talks with U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Foreign Minister of Britain, Denmark and Switzerland. Foreign Minister Picula pointed out two important issues as addressed at the talks.  First,  Croatia’s role in normalization and stabilization of with Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and, second Croatia’s economic relations with each of the above mentioned countries.