It can be said that despite some outstanding issues, the position of national minorities in Croatia has considerably improved in comparison to three years ago, Korkeakivi said at a two-day seminar on ethnic minorities' protection, which started in the biggest Croatian coastal city of Split on Thursday.
Officials of the Council of Europe and the Croatian government's national minorities office, which organised the event, assessed that thanks to political, administrative and social reforms in the country, the position of ethnic minorities had been improved very much over recent years.
The Council of Europe now suggests that units of local authorities in the areas populated by minorities should be additionally trained to implement provisions of the Constitutional Law on National Minorities' Rights, particularly those referring to the employment of minorities' members.
The challenges which lie ahead are the return of refugees and the solution of problems of former holders of tenancy rights, Korkeakivi said.
The head of the above-mentioned Croatian office, Milena Klajner, said that the government was paying much attention to the rights of ethnic minorities, which was also confirmed by the fact that Croatia was among the first countries to ratify a framework convention for the protection of national minorities. This document has so far been signed by 34 countries.
Klajner added that Zagreb would act on recommendations which Europe had given about employment of Croatian Roma and members of other minorities.