(ZAGREB) - Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said Monday his government backs Croatia's bid to complete European Union accession talks before the end of Prague's turn at the EU presidency in mid-2009.

"The Czech side will do everything in order to close all opened chapters" during its six-month presidency that begins January 1, Topolanek told journalists in Zagreb.

Topolanek, on a one-day visit to Croatia, said it was "realistic to expect that (the remaining 12 chapters) would be opened by the end of French presidency".

EU enlargement will be a priority for Prague when it holds the agenda-setting presidency of the 27-nation bloc, he added.

His Croatian counterpart, Ivo Sanader, said: "I can guarantee that the Croatian side will do everything to be ready so that all chapters can be opened by the end of the year."

"We can be optimists," he added.

EU hopefuls must negotiate 35 chapters, or policy areas, with the European Commission before being allowed on board.

The Czech Republic was among 10 mainly ex-communist eastern and central European states which joined the European Union in 2004.

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