The government asked that the agreement be ratified in urgent procedure.
Minorities should not be a point of contention but a point of connection in the Croatia-Serbia relations, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said at a session of his cabinet on Thursday and added minorities could contribute to the normalisation of relations.
He expressed conviction the two countries share a vision on a common Europe and added Croatia was ready to share its experience from that process.
"The agreement is important because the Croat community in Serbia and Montenegro would grow stronger as a minority," Sanader said.
He said the Croatian Constitutional Law on The Protection of National Minorities guaranteed the Serb minority in Croatia, as well as all other minorities, a status which stood shoulder to shoulder with minority statuses in most advances EU countries
The PM said Croatia would provide for its minorities outside the country and all Croatian citizens living abroad.
Under the agreement, the two countries will ensure to members of national minorities the right to express, preserve and develop their ethnic, cultural, lingual and religious identity. The agreement will also enable members of national minorities to attend classes in their native language.
The agreement, signed on 15 November 2004, also foresees the establishment of a joint commission which will monitor the implementation of the agreement.