Croatian Prime Minister and HDZ president Jadranka Kosor was appointed in Brussels on Friday vice president of the Centrist Democrat International, a group of Christian Democratic parties.
"I see this appointment as an expression of trust and as a duty that has yet to be justified and I will persevere in that," Kosor said after a meeting of the CDI executive committee.
Antonio Lopez Isturiz, secretary general of the European People's Party and CDI executive secretary, commended Kosor's work.
"We in the EPP and the CDI are very proud of PM Kosor's work, on the job she has done for Croatia on the international front, from the lifting of the blockade on the European Union accession negotiations to their completion, and on the home front in the fight against corruption. We are proud to have such a strong and extraordinary leader who will soon sit at the same table with the other EU leaders and in the CDI executive board, where she will adopt decisions with our partners from America, Asia and Africa. We support PM Kosor in her future work, her government and her party, the HDZ", Lopez Isturiz said, adding this was not about ideology but the fact that the Croatian people would benefit from that work.
Kosor said that with this appointment, she assumed the obligation to promote the values and political ideals of Christian democracy also outside of Croatia, suggesting to CDI president Pier Ferdinando Casini that the CDI hold one of its meetings in Croatia.
Speaking of the accession negotiations with the EU, she said they were difficult, full of ups and downs. "Now we are proud and Croatia received applause at this meeting, because we have shown strength, determination and knowledge."
Lopez Isturiz said the ratification of Croatia's accession treaty would require political unity in Croatia, adding that he did not expect any problems on the European level.
Asked about the case of former Croatian PM Ivo Sanader, who has been accused of abuse of office and corruption, given that he had been very well-accepted in the EPP, Lopez Isturiz said he did not want to comment on the judicial matters of a sovereign country.
That would be a prejudging of a process on which Croatia's judicial authorities have to decide and when their decision is known, you will know the reactions of the EPP and the CDI, he said.
