Bucharest, April 29 /Agerpres/ - Romania's support for Croatia's accession to the European Union was emphasized by President Traian Basescu during the official visit he paid on Wednesday to Zagreb, following the invitation by counterpart Stjepan Mesic.

'As regards the European prospects of Croatia, I have appreciated its constant efforts, which entitle it to join the big European family in a formal way quite soon. It is important that these efforts should continue and progress toward membership should be grounded in solid progress with achieving the accession criteria,' President Basescu told a joint news conference with his Croat counterpart Stjepan Mesic.

President Mesic told the same news conference that Croatia's recent accession to NATO opened a new chapter in the field of cooperation.

He also thanked Romania for its support to Croatia on the latter's way to the EU, saying that it is well known that the way has been fraught with obstacles that do not need to be elaborated, but Croatia continues to count on the support of Romania and other EU member states and is sure that in a predictable future it will be amidst them.

Romanian President Traian Basescu and his Croat counterpart Stjepan Mesic on Wednesday voiced their support for the construction of an oil pipeline from Constanta, to Trieste.

'The energy file was a main point for discussion in my conversations and I focused on a project that is a priority to Romania, namely the Constanta-Trieste oil pipeline, and also on the Nabucco gas pipeline. I was satisfied to see that the two projects are priorities to the Croat Government as well,' said Basescu.

He mentioned Croatia's support for the drawing up of a strategy for Danube cooperation, saying that this will contribute to the sustainable development of the region, with positive effects on tourism, environmental infrastructure and European transportation.

On the other hand, Basescu pointed out that the bilateral talks in Zagreb also concerned the latest developments in the relationship between Romania and Croatia, including the importance of identifying economic cooperation solutions in order to avoid the consequences of the ongoing economic crisis, to the extent that such avoidance is possible.

Croat President Mesic said the relationship between Croatia and Romania is good, but additional efforts are required for their future development.

I have noticed that the relationship between our countries is good, said Stepic, and there are no open issues, and there are undoubtedly no reasons why the relation cannot get better. He said that economic cooperation came first to his mind, but that was not the only thing. There is political wish on both sides and opportunities are in handy, said Mesic, adding that the governments of the two countries but also the business operators have to make efforts to this end.

An agreement of economic and technical cooperation between the governments of Romania and Croatia was signed, on Wednesday, in Zagreb, in the presence of Romanian president Traian Basescu and his Croatian counterpart Stjepan Mesic.

During the official visit he pays to Zagreb, the Romanian head of state held talks also with speaker of the Croatian Parliament of Luka Bebic and with members of the Romanian community in that country, at the Romanian Embassy's headquarters.

He voiced trust that the economy will resume its upward trend as of this autumn.

''I can tell you that I am quite optimistic about the economy resuming its upward trend as of this autumn, not at its previous levels but not declining either. (...) As far as I'm concern, though the crisis is quite serious, I'm not pessimistic about it, and that might also be due to the fact that I am better informed than those who forecast a disaster,' the head of state explained.

He underscored that the current account deficit has seriously diminished.

President Traian Basescu said, on Wednesday, in Zagreb, that Romania will obstruct in no way the process of negotiation between the Republic of Moldova and the European Union as regards an agreement of association or any other form of cooperation.

'Their existing accord runs out, and they need another one. So, you can be convinced that we will support the continuation of the process of negotiation with the Republic of Moldova, irrespective of who will be prime minister or president after this election (on April 5, e.n.), because we are two independent states, but of the same blood, ' Basescu said, during a meeting with the Romanians in Croatia, at the Romanian Embassy in that country.

[Source: Romanian National News Agency AGERPRES ]