The annual OECD Ministerial Council Meeting on Friday adopted the Roadmaps for the Accession to the OECD Convention for Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Peru and Romania, the Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Ministry stated.

The Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Mathias Cormann, today handed the roadmap for Croatia to Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman, who expressed great satisfaction to be at the meeting.

He recalled that Croatia’s cooperation with the OECD had started in 1993.

In 2017, Croatia launched the formal journey for its accession to this organisation, and in January this year, five years later, we were given a positive decision from the Ministerial Council. Today’s decision by the Council and the endorsement of the roadmaps opens a new chapter in the furthering of our relations, Grlic-Radman said at the meeting.

He recalled that Croatia was now close to the realisation of its foreign policy priorities: entry into the euro area and accession to the Schengen area.

We will make the same commitment and efforts and invest our knowledge and experience in the realisation of our membership of the OECD, said the minister.

“Croatia recognises and shares the values enshrined in the principles of this organisation: freedom, equal rights, social justice, the rule of law and a multiparty democracy. We are ready to work with the OECD and its member-states in efforts to ensure a strong, sustainable and inclusive growth,” said the minister.

This year’s ministerial meeting took place in Paris on 9-10 June under the chairmanship of Italy.

It was opened by OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Chairperson of the Africa Union and President of Senegal Macky Sall, Mexico’s Minister of Finance Rogelio Ramírez de la O and Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Anniken Huitfeldt.