Croatian Foreign Minister Marija Pejcinovic-Buric attended a meeting of the Adriatic Charter (A5) in Podgorica in Tuesday, where the A-5 members discussed security challenges and future cooperation in the region, a press release from the Foreign Ministry said.

The Adriatic Charter was formed in 2003 by Albania, Croatia, Macedonia, and the United States for the purpose of aiding their efforts to join NATO. The association was joined by Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro in 2008, while Serbia and Kosovo have observer status.

Croatia and Albania became NATO members in 2009, while Montenegro joined NATO in 2017.

In her address, Pejcinovic-Buric said Croatia supported the Euro-Atlantic integration of the countries of Southeast Europe as a way to achieve long-term security and stability in the region.

Speaking of current global and regional security challenges such as terrorism, hybrid threats and irregular migration, she said A5 represented an added value to NATO and EU efforts to respond to those challenges.

EU enlargement would be one of Croatia’s priorities during its presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of 2020, she added.

The conference marked the end of Montenegro’s A5 presidency this year, and Albania will preside in 2019.

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