The leaders of Croatia and Macedonia sought to reassure their people on Wednesday that their efforts to join the European Union would continue regardless of the fate of the EU constitution. "Whatever marks this leaves on the EU, regardless of whether the French 'No' will be followed by others, we must continue implementing reforms and reaching European standards," Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said after meeting Branko Crvenkovski, his Macedonian counterpart. His comments came ahead of referendum results from the Netherlands, expected to deliver a second emphatic 'No' to the proposed EU constitution and strike a further blow to confidence within the 25-member bloc. Crvenkovski said Macedonia wanted Croatia to start EU membership talks as soon as possible. Croatia hopes to join the bloc in 2010. "Any delay in this process would also affect Macedonia," he said. The constitution is intended to make the bloc run more smoothly following its expansion last year. A defeat for the treaty could stop future enlargement ambitions in their tracks, say analysts. --More 1800 Local Time 1500 GMT
