In attendance were representatives of minorities, Croatian Assistant Foreign Minister Slavko Laban and SCG Assistant Minister for Human and Minority Rights Jelena Markovic.
"Incidents against members of minorities are not a consequence of the two governments' polices," Laban told the press, adding that the mixed commission addressed every issue still burdening the two countries' relations. He said the joint conclusion was that those in charge in Croatia and SCG should punish perpetrators faster so as to improve relations.
Laban said it was agreed that the Croatian minority in SCG and the Serb minority in Croatia should have their own news desks within public information services, with the possibility to influence the editorial policy, and to increase the number of classes in schools in 2006 in which a larger number of children would be enabled to study in their mother tongue.
Laban said the issue of Bunjevci Croats and their language was also discussed.
Markovic said some claims in the recently adopted declaration by the Vojvodina Croats Alliance were justified, but that the declaration's attitude about their existing an attempt to break up the Croatian minority by creating the artificial nation of the Bunjevci was unacceptable.
"That's not true, because 20,000 of our citizens freely declared themselves as Bunjevci. As a state we don't have the right to influence them to declare themselves differently and this attitude has been confirmed by the Council of Europe, too," she said, adding that in relation to 2004 this year saw five times less ethnic incidents in SCG and that apart from the authors of recent graffiti, all perpetrators were discovered.
"In Croatia on the other hand, as we heard today, there were 41 incidents over the past year, including four murders, yet we haven't drawn a declaration but advocate that such problems, which shouldn't be either hidden or exaggerated, be solved," said Markovic.
The mixed commission will meet again very soon, before SCG President Svetozar Marovic's visit to Croatia on December 13.