Sanader said his visit to Serbia last year was historic because it announced the closure of a difficult historical period and paved the way for stable and good neighbourly relations.
He said the joint statement issued on that occasion and the agreement on the protection of ethnic minorities that was signed were lasting signals of the new stage in relations. He added that today it was much easier to work towards common goals and to close outstanding issues.
Commenting on his recent statement that improving Serb-Croat relations was his historic task, Sanader said the two neighbourly peoples were directed to the normalisation of relations, peaceful coexistence and cooperation, and mutual recognition.
He said the two peoples should turn to the future without forgetting the recent past, adding that the common future was good neighbourly cooperation within united Europe. He said it was urgent to close some outstanding issues, primarily those of a humanitarian nature, such as the tracing of 1,200 people gone missing in the 1990s war.
The Croatian PM said other European peoples' relations were also marked by past traumas, but added the essence of European unification was to overcome that past. He said the Germans and the French could serve as an example.
Sanader said Croatian-Serb relations should be based on the two countries' commitment to adopt every value and standard contemporary Europe was founded on.
He added that the Serb minority in Croatia and the Croatian in Serbia were important elements in the improvement of Croatian-Serbian relations. He said the two minorities were neither a problem nor a burden but enriched the two societies.