Jakarta, 14 Feb - President Stjepan Mesic of Croatia visited the ASEAN Secretariat on Thursday on the second day of his five-day state visit to Indonesia.    

In his statement, President Mesic acknowledged ASEAN “as a significant factor in strengthening and developing both economic and political cooperation in the region.” He said that Southeast Europe was also trying to develop regional cooperation.  He said that it would be “worthwhile to study more closely the ASEAN experience in the establishment of regional cooperation as well as the problems standing in its way.”  He referred to “the political past” that made progress in regional cooperation in Southeast Europe difficult.  A copy of his speech is attached. 

ASEAN Secretary-General Rodolfo C. Severino, Jr. called the visit “historic” because the Croatian President is the first non-ASEAN head of state or government who visited the organizations’ headquarters.  Severino said that ASEAN looked forward to working closely with Croatia when the latter becomes a member of the European Union, which is a dialogue partner of ASEAN.  Meanwhile, Severino expressed support for the development of bilateral relations between Croatia and the ASEAN member states.

Copy of speech

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