Zagreb - Parliament Speaker Josip Leko on Thursday received the Deputy Speaker of the Slovak Parliament Jana Lassakova and expressed satisfaction that he could confirm the friendly-like and partner-like relations between the two countries.
These relations were confirmed when Slovakia was the first European Union (EU) member state to ratify Croatia's accession treaty, Leko said, expressing his interest in Slovakia's experience in the parliament and government after it joined the EU and in that regard suggested that inter-parliamentary cooperation to be raised to the level of parliamentary working bodies.
Lassakova expressed her satisfaction with her visit which has come ahead of Croatia's upcoming accession to the EU. She appraised Croatia's efforts in the parliament and government to meet all the pre-accession criteria set. She was particularly pleased with the way Croatia has dealt with the issue of ethnic minorities, adding that the main reason for her visit was to further develop good relations between the two countries. She added that Slovak citizens had prospered since the country joined the EU because they knew how to use European funds and she hoped that this would help Croatian citizens too and that both countries would cooperate even more within the framework of the EU. (Hina)