His Majesty King Abdullah II arrived in Croatia Sunday, the first leg of a three-day tour in Eastern Europe that will take him to Czech Republic, and Romania.



The King's official visit aims at enhancing and activating relations between Jordan and three countries. Upon His arrival His Majesty King Abdullah and the accompanying delegation held discussion with Croatian President Stjepan Mesic and senior Croatian officials focusing on bilateral relations and means of enhancing them, particularly in tourism and economic domains.



In joint press remarks following meeting with Croatian President His Majesty King Abdullah affirmed his keenness to boost relations between the two countries particularly in political, economic, and cultural fields.



Describing his discussions with the Croatian President as fruitful, King Abdullah, who is meeting President Mesic for the third time, said his meeting with the President have become regular. Relations between the two countries have seen progress since the first meeting where two cooperation agreements have been reached on trade and investment and a third one on science and technology will be concluded soon. King Abdullah hoped ties of cooperation between the private sectors in the two countries would be further strengthened.



The two sides discussed the situations in the Middle East, stressing the importance of working hard to achieve peace in the region. His Majesty the King briefed the Croatian President on the outcome of the Arab summit concluded in Tunis Sunday, noting the Arab countries' pledge to reach a peace solution with Israel. We still believe the road map, approved by the international community, offers a viable and effective mechanism to reach a just, comprehensive and lasting peace based on international legitimacy and the UN resolution.



Talks also touched upon the situation in Iraq particularly in the light of preparation to hand over the sovereignty to Iraqis. Regarding the Balkan issues, His Majesty the King expressed his hope that the region would reap the fruit of serious efforts exerted by of international community to bring peace and stability to the region.