"The conference is an occasion for the exchange of experience in the establishment of the highest standards in local self-government so as to make local authorities more accessible to citizens," Palaric said at the conference dedicated to the topic "Effective Democratic Government at Local and Regional Levels. What Kind of Local Government Do We Want to Have by 2010?" (in an unofficial translation).
Stressing that units of local self-government were the driving force of the development of every area, Palaric said that local self-government had been developing in Croatia over the last 12 years, and that the government in Zagreb was aware of the importance of the decentralisation of authorities in enabling citizens to exercise their rights more easily.
He said, among other things, that the democratic and effective local government was important not only for the country in question but also for neighbouring countries, adding that Croatia was open to all forms of cross-border cooperation.
Lidija Topic, an official from Bosnia-Herzegovina who is the co-chairwoman of the Stability Pact Working Table I, advocated the establishment of competent local authorities which would begin acting as factors of economic development and stability by 2010.
A Croatian member of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, Miljenko Doric, spoke about the tasks of local self-government in overcoming the existing gap between Southeast Europe and the rest of the Continent, and recalled the role which local authorities in Germany and France had played in 1953 in establishing stability and cross-border confidence.
Addressing the Zagreb event, Guy de Vel, Council of Europe Director General of Legal Affairs, said that local authorities must not act to the detriment of the central government and should be strong enough to promote platforms of local development.
"Local self-government is a key component of the democratic tissue," de Vel said.
On Tuesday, senior Croatian officials, including Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and Deputy PM Jadranka Kosor, as well as the Pact's Special Co-ordinator, Erhard Busek, will address the conference.
The event will wrap up with the adoption of a ministerial declaration and a memorandum on commitments.