Croatian President Zoran Milanovic on Wednesday welcomed the position of OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann, who is visiting Zagreb, that the accession process must be based on the merits of each candidate country.

On Thursday, Cormann, the head of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), made his first official visit to Croatia since he assumed the post in 2021.

Speaking to him, Milanovic expressed his satisfaction with the continuation of the enlargement process of that organisation, which Cormann initiated after taking office, the Office of the President said in a press release.

President Milanovic welcomed the position of the OECD Secretary General that the accession process should be based on the progress and merits of each candidate country, the press release said.

Cormann praised Croatia’s efforts in meeting the criteria for membership and stressed the importance of inter-institutional support in the ongoing accession process.

In the discussion about the problems that Croatia is facing on the path to membership, they noted that the expertise and instruments of the OECD are a welcome help in solving these problems.

The OECD was established in 1961 as part of the Marshall Plan with the aim of stimulating economic development, and today it has 38 members. It is an elite club that includes mostly the richest countries in the world.

Most of the countries of the European Union are members of the OECD, with the exception of Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania.

The members include Switzerland, Iceland, the USA, Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Israel, Turkey, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Costa Rica.

In 2017, Bulgaria, Romania, Brazil, Argentina and Peru also applied for membership in the OECD.