Croatia has made spectacular progress in meeting its international obligations in all areas, OSCE Mission chief Jorge Fuentes Monzonis Vilallonga said.
The most important aspect of cooperation with Croatian authorities is its openness and transparency, Fuentes said, adding that the mission could start wrapping up its work, which he said would be discussed again in mid-2006.
The relations between Croatia and the OSCE Mission are based on partnership, Fuentes said, adding that great progress had been made in all areas and that cooperation was exceptionally good on all levels.
This was confirmed by the Croatian delegation attending the session of the OSCE Permanent Council, which acknowledged Fuentes's efforts to deal with outstanding issues through cooperation rather than confrontation, said Vladimir Matek, Croatia's Ambassador to the OSCE, UN and other international organisations in Vienna. He said that the latest six-month report was undoubtedly more positive than the previous ones. In his address to the OSCE Permanent Council, Ambassador Fuentes did not leave out any area from the OSCE mandate where progress has been achieved, whether it be refugee return, judicial reform, application of the constitutional law on minority rights or something else, Matek said.
Considering the already achieved agreement between Croatian authorities and the OSCE Mission on holding a number of meetings on joint projects and activities and on wrapping up most chapters from the Mission's mandate, the decision to prolong the Mission's mandate to 2006 was not questioned and it was adopted after a discussion on the extension of all OSCE missions on the ground.
Speaking about Croatia's progress report, Fuentes said Croatia deserved a special position among all countries where the OSCE had missions because it was making great steps in the building of democracy, its economic situation was good, it was one of the most important European tourist destinations and it had started EU entry talks.
Participants in the discussion, including delegations from the Russian Federation, Great Britain (representing the EU), the United States, Canada, Serbia, Montenegro and Albania, commended Croatia's progress and supported the Mission's activities and efforts by the Croatian government to solve the remaining issues as soon as possible.
The OSCE Mission progress report will be presented in Zagreb on Friday.