The Spanish ambassador, who took over the Mission in May, held a news conference on the occasion of the latest Progress Report on how Croatia is meeting international commitments, which the Mission compiles twice a year.
Fuentes said the government's fulfilment of those commitments was weak at the start of the period covered by the report, but added this was due to presidential and local elections.
He said the implementation stepped up considerably over the last two to three months, which he added was due to the government's consent to present guidelines for the settlement of the refugee issue and Prime Minister Ivo Sanader's announcement that the election law would be changed in the autumn. Fuentes said this meant that Croatia was on the good path.
The Progress Report covers six commitments Croatia assumed in order to make its society democratic. One of the most difficult is the refugee issue. Fuentes said he personally saw that the situation on the ground was serious and dramatic.
He said he received assurances from the government that everything that was necessary would be done as quickly as possible, and applauded the government for adopting the Road Map plan for the settlement of refugees' problems.
The Progress Report also covers the situation in the judiciary, which needs to be reorganised and improved.
Fuentes said the Croatian public rated the judiciary very poorly and that he read somewhere that judges were seen as more corrupt than physicians and the police.
Speaking of the OSCE's cooperation with the Hague war crimes tribunal, the ambassador recalled talking to chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte to the effect that the OSCE would monitor the war crimes trials the UN court referred to Croatia.
As for political reforms, the OSCE is interested in amendments to the election law, notably with regard to voter lists, which the Mission maintains are not properly made, the financing of campaigns, the approach to elections, the media and domestic observers, the establishment of a permanent body in charge of elections, and out of country voting.
The Mission maintains that emigrants should be provided with the time, mode and mechanisms for proper voting, that these votes should arrive in time and that the whole process should be transparent.
Fuentes said considerable progress had been made in the remaining areas covered by the Progress Report, namely the transformation and democratisation of the media and the police, and the democratisation of civil society. He added, however, that more needed to be done in these areas as well.
The ambassador said the OSCE Mission would launch a campaign in September to inform some 200,000 Croatian Serb refugees about the possibilities of returning and that there was room for everyone here.
Fuentes said nobody would be forced to return, but added the aim was to help the undecided decide. He added it would not matter if they did not want to return.
Speaking of former tenancy rights holders, the ambassador said the September deadline to apply for housing might be extended.
Fuentes also commented on the Croatian public's request that the OSCE close its Mission to Croatia. He said Croatia itself would close the Mission and that the Mission chief could only make proposals facilitating this process.
He reiterated the Mission would terminate its mandate in Croatia when the mandate was completed, saying the Croatian authorities were aware of this.
Fuentes said the Mission could not leave the country without having finished its job because this would damage both the OSCE and Croatia in achieving its goal -- admission to the European Union.