Zagreb – Croatian Parliament Speaker Boris Šprem received Italy's Ambassador to Croatia Ms Emanuela D'Alessandro. They talked about Šprem's recent visit to the presidents of both chambers of the Italian Parliament Renato Schifani and Gianfranco Fini. Šprem attended the Upper Chamber plenary session when Italian Senators ratified Croatia's EU Accession Treaty.
Šprem expressed his gratitude for the continuous support Italy had been giving Croatia on its way to the EU, and his satisfaction with the two countries' bilateral political and economic cooperation. “We are aware that Italy is one of the biggest investors to Croatia, but we expect further investments in production, power industry, traffic, agriculture, medical tourism and health food projects“, said Šprem.
Ms Alessandro thinks the Italian ratification of Croatia's Treaty is a great success for Croatia but for Italy as well: it was one of the fastest ratification ever to take place in the Italian parliament. “It is a sign of Italy's strong and continuous support to Croatia’s membership in the European Union and, hopefully, a positive signal for other countries to speed up the process of ratification in their parliaments”, said Alessandro. She expressed her conviction that Italian investments in Croatia would increase in spite of recession. Alessandro praised Italian minority integration in Croatia, their level of organization and their contribution to the political life and economy in Croatia.