This April Croatia will get a date for the completion of its European Union accession negotiations, Viktor Orban, the Prime Minister of Hungary which currently chairs the EU, told a news conference in Zagreb on Tuesday.

Addressing the press conference with his host, Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, the Hungarian PM said that the next two months would be crucial for the completion of the long-standing accession process.

March should be a month of success and in April you should get a date for the completion of the negotiations. If we do not do it now, the accession will be prolonged, Orban said.

Asked how much the negotiations, which started in October 2005, could be prolonged in that case, Orban answered that there was no need for such forecasts, as the date would be given in April.

PM Kosor said that she was encouraged by her meeting with Orban.

She was hopeful that the entire job regarding Croatia's EU accession negotiations would be done on time, particularly regarding negotiations on the Judiciary and Fundamental Rights policy chapter No. 23 and on the Competition Policy chapter No. 8.

She said that by the end of this week the Croatian government would send a report on benchmarks for the policy chapter No. 23 to the European Commission and that she expected the European Commission to give a positive opinion on the plan for restructuring Croatian shipyards.

"The goal is to wrap up the negotiations by the end of the Hungarian presidency (30 June). This is a historic, strategic and symbolical goal which we want to accomplish in the year when we are marking the 20th anniversary of our independence," Kosor said.

Kosor and Orban also held talks on the economic, energy and tourist bilateral cooperation.

In response to reporters' inquires, the two premiers commented on a recent unsuccessful attempt by Hungary's MOL to acquire a majority interest in Croatia's oil and gas group INA.

"The government abides by the principles of market competition," Kosor said, adding that she and Economy Minister Djuro Popijac on Monday held a very good meeting with the chairman of the MOL board of directors, Zsolt Hernadi.

Orban said such disagreements were usual on the market and in the business world and that they should not harm relations between the two countries.

He went on to say that it would be bad if there was no strategic cooperation between INA and MOL.

Commenting on the need for cooperation among central European countries, the Hungarian premier said that this would be a great decade for central Europe.