Croatia, Montenegro, Albania push for EU enlargement

ZAGREB, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Foreign ministers of the Adriatic Trilateral countries on Friday agreed on more initiatives for the enlargement of the European Union (EU) and the cooperation of southeast European countries with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

At the fourth thematic meeting held in Croatian coastal city Zadar, foreign ministers of Croatia, Montenegro and Albania were joined by their counterpart from North Macedonia as guest.

"During the EU Presidency, Croatia will push for the start of negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, and for a shift in accession negotiations with Montenegro," said Croatian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlic-Radman.

Croatia will take over the presidency of the Council of the European Union on Jan. 1, 2020 for six months.

The Croatian minister announced that a summit of EU member states and southeast Europe will be held in Zagreb on May 7, 2020 to discuss EU enlargement, and that the trilateral countries strongly support the continuation of NATO's open-door policy towards countries of southeast Europe.

Established in February 2017 in Croatia's second largest city Split, the Adriatic Trilateral aims to encourage security and economic cooperation among Croatia, Albania and Montenegro.