CZECH REPUBLIC: Croatian President Ivo Josipovich visits Prague

Record ID: 777778

  • Title: CZECH REPUBLIC: Croatian President Ivo Josipovich visits Prague
  • Date: 9th March 2011
  • Summary: +++SOUND DROP-OUT DURING SOUNDBITES+++ PRESIDENTIAL COUPLES LEAVING FOR TALKS PHOTOGRAPHERS VARIOUS OF PRESIDENTIAL COUPLES AT ROUND TABLE KLAUS AND JOSIPOVIC ARRIVING AT NEWS CONFERENCE MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Czech) CZECH PRESIDENT VACLAV KLAUS SAYING: "I assured the [Croatian] President that the Czech Republic supports Croatia joining the EU." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Croatian) CROATIAN PRESIDENT IVO JOSIPOVIC SAYING: "Since the accession process took so long and we had some economic problems, this negatively reflected the support of the people [for the accession]. The support went down a little bit, we were starting at about 70 percent support and now it is just a bit more than 50 percent of citizens who support entering the EU. I think that joining the EU is good for Croatia and I am convinced we will get the support of the citizens for this idea in a referendum." KLAUS AND JOSIPOVIC LEAVING NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 24th March 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Czech Republic, Czech Republic
  • Country: Czech Republic
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA9KTLOFZF7NI3BOM88X11MWKWH
  • Story Text: Croatian President Ivo Josipovic visited Czech Republic on Tuesday (March 8) to discuss the issue of Croatia's EU accession with his Czech counterpart Vaclav Klaus.
    During talks Czech President Vaclav Klaus said the Czech Republic supports Croatia´s EU admission.
    "I assured the [Croatian] President that the Czech Republic supports Croatia joining the EU," Havel said at a joint press-conference following the talks.
    The Croatian president said he is confident that despite decreasing support for the EU accession in Croatia it will get a final approval.
    "Since the accession process took so long and we had some economic problems, this negatively reflected the support of the people," Josipovic told journalists. "The support went down a little bit, we were starting at about 70 percent support and now it is just a bit more than 50 percent of citizen who support entering the EU. I think that joining the EU is good for Croatia and I am convinced we will get the support of the citizens for this idea in a referendum."
    The European Commission expressed concern last week about shortcomings in Croatia's judicial reform, fighting corruption and in prosecuting war crimes' suspects.
    Diplomats said the report raised doubts about the country's ability to complete EU accession talks in June.
    While noting progress in strengthening the independence and impartiality of the judiciary, the report said Croatia had not yet established a convincing track record in appointing judges and prosecutors based on uniformed and transparent criteria.
    Many EU policymakers are reluctant to admit a new member struggling with corruption after Romania and Bulgaria failed to meet expectations in terms of judiciary reforms since their accession in 2007.
    Josipovic's visit to Prague coincides with an opposition anti-government protest, which is scheduled for later today.
    Several thousand people took part in a protest on Sunday. Protesters demanded government's resignation and called for social and political reforms.
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