Degert was speaking at a ceremony presenting the results of the CARDS 2002 programme for the promotion of democracy and human rights and the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights 2001 (EIDHR).
The two programmes, worth more than 11 million kuna, were implemented in 2004 and 2005 by civil society organisations. They covered projects of a relatively small scope concerning democratisation on the local level - the promotion of human, minority and civil rights and of democracy and civil society.
Degert said the European Union insisted on the protection of human rights as a basis for the functioning of modern European societies guaranteeing political stability and democracy.
Croatia has made great progress in the promotion of human, civil and minority rights, but it must not stop at that, but continue to invest efforts to further strengthen and promote them, Degert said.
The ceremony was also attended by Croatia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Family Affairs, Veterans and Inter-Generational Solidarity, Jadranka Kosor.