ZAGREB, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Croatia on Wednesday reaffirmed its support for North Macedonia's European integration.
Croatian President Zoran Milanovic and Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic met with visiting North Macedonia President Stevo Pendarovski and they both stressed strong support for opening European Union (EU) accession negotiations with North Macedonia as soon as possible.
Milanovic said at a press conference that North Macedonia's accession to the EU will not be easy and that a lot of effort and friendly help is needed.
"Croatia knows very well how much perseverance and hard work is needed to achieve these goals," Milanovic said. "That all awaits North Macedonia, and we will do our best to avoid strays and wanderings." He noted that Croatia has no open issues with North Macedonia.
In 2013, Croatia joined the EU after a decade of negotiations.
In a press statement, Pendarovski said that there is no alternative to the country's full EU membership. He said that North Macedonia and Croatia are connected by deep geographical and cultural ties and that Croatia is one of his country's most important allies.
Both presidents stated that they hope that Slovenia, which assumes the rotating Presidency of the EU on Thursday, will push EU accession negotiations with North Macedonia.
