BRUSSELS, March 26 (Hina) - The political situation in Croatia is stable, the overall situation in the country is satisfactory, but despite positive developments, results in areas such as cooperation with the U.N. war crimes tribunal
(ICTY), the return of refugees and the Law on the Croatian Radio Television (HRT) are insufficient, says a report of the European Commission on Croatia's progress in the past year.
BRUSSELS, March 26 (Hina) - The political situation in Croatia is
stable, the overall situation in the country is satisfactory, but
despite positive developments, results in areas such as
cooperation with the U.N. war crimes tribunal (ICTY), the return of
refugees and the Law on the Croatian Radio Television (HRT) are
insufficient, says a report of the European Commission on Croatia's
progress in the past year. #L#
The political situation in the country remains generally stable,
the overall situation is satisfactory and democratic development
has been consolidated, says a summary of the European Commission's
report on Croatia.
The European Commission on Wednesday adopted the second annual
report on the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAp) which
encompasses five countries of the Southeast of Europe -- Croatia,
Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro, Macedonia and Albania.
The European Commission's public relations office has so far only
issued a summary of the report. The entire report will be available
later in the day.
The summary notes that the Croatian government continues to show
determination in its efforts to establish full democracy regarding
the rule of law.
Regional cooperation has been intensified, a constitutional law on
national minorities has been adopted and legislative changes
facilitating the return of refugees have been introduced.
However, despite the positive development, not enough has been done
in fulfilling short-term priorities identified in last year's
report, says the summary.
The Croatian parliament in February passed a law on the HRT. But,
the law does not fully protect the HRT from possible direct and
indirect influence of political and state bodies. The government's
stance on cooperation with the ICTY remains tepid, says the
report.
Only limited progress has been achieved in practice in the return
process and the actual integration of the Serb minority, the
European Commission states.
It adds that efforts in the judiciary and the struggle against
corruption and organised crime need to be stepped up.
The economic situation continues to improve, but the high rate of
unemployment in Croatia is still a primary problem, says the
summary.
Overall progress in structural reforms has slowed down in the past
period, reflecting a frail government coalition and the opposition
of the public to some unpopular government measures, the report
says.
Progress has been achieved in the rationalisation of social
transfers and in the implementation of the second pillar of pension
insurance, in the launching of fiscal decentralisation, including
the establishment of a single state treasury, the report says.
On the other hand, it adds, reforms are slow in some other areas,
such as privatisation, education and health.
Also, a reform of the labour legislature has not yet been
implemented, which would increase the flexibility of the labour
force, the European Commission says in its report.
(hina) lml sb