Activities of the European Parliament, the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), including the organisation of seminars of this kind, have a clear goal: to offer support and comprehensive assistance to southeastern European countries in a demanding task to implement reforms and upgrade institutions, and this task is crucial in the process of the adoption of European standards on the path of accession to the European Union, the Croatian Parliament Speaker Vladimir Seks said at the start of the seminars.
Croatia is treating the judicial reform as one of its priorities, recognising it as a pillar for the overall internal progress, Seks, said among other things.
Regarding the parliamentary supervision of intelligence agencies, Croatia is aware that it is necessary to strengthen transparency and responsibility in the work of the security sector following recommendations of the European Commission and NATO. That's why the Sabor has accepted the concept of strengthening a parliamentary dimension in the reform of this sector with the aim of enhancing the legislative, controlling and supervising function, he added.
At the end of his speech Seks said that it is "Croatia's interest to have neighbour that are resolute to follow a path which Croatia has passes, i.e. the European path".
A European parliamentarian, Doris Pack, also addressed the event.
The seminars pooled members of parliament from southeastern European countries and officials of the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the OSCE and the Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation, the Office of the High Representative to Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF).
The first two seminars of this kind for parliamentarians from southeastern European countries were held earlier this year in Brussels.