The Hague - Croatian Parliament Speaker Josip Leko, currently on a two-day visit to the Netherlands, met with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the speakers of both houses of parliament in The Hague on Monday.
Leko's visit to The Hague was the first visit of a Speaker of the Croatian Parliament to the Kingdom of the Netherlands since Croatia became an independent state. The talks focused on cooperation between the two countries, in particular between the two parliaments, which play an important role in the adoption of European legislation under the Lisbon Treaty.
Leko said that the experience of the Dutch Parliament was of exceptional value to Croatia and that its initiatives for a stronger role of national parliaments in European Union policies should be studied closely. We discussed the European Union and the way in which national parliaments are involved in the adoption of European laws because the Lisbon Treaty gave them an important role in that process, Senate Speaker Ankie Broekers-Knol told the press, adding that they also discussed the situation in Ukraine. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Anouchka van Miltenburg, stressed the importance of parliamentary diplomacy, saying that it was important for parliamentarians to meet and discuss matters rather than leave them to governments alone.
On Tuesday, Leko is scheduled to meet with the heads of the European Affairs Committee and the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee. (Hina)