BUCHAREST: CROATIAN FOREIGN MINISTER ABOUT OSCE REFORMS

BUCHAREST, Dec 3 (Hina) - The OSCE, as one of the biggest multilateral organisations, can successfully respond to new challenges but only once announced reforms, in which all members must participate, have been carried out, Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula said in Bucharest on Monday.#L# Picula is heading a Croatian delegation at the ninth conference of the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) Ministerial Council. There are various ways to contribute to the reforms, but both big and small OSCE members must participate so as to be able to globally respond to the new, stronger challenges to global security, Picula told reporters covering the event. Croatia is interested in contributing to the building of a new security system on the global level as it was itself exposed to aggression, including terrorism, said the chief of diplomacy. He maintains the OSCE has proved itself in many cases and that its experience will help the wider community tackle the sociological and economic roots of terrorism, which he says has grown into a world phenomenon. Asked if his opening speech at today's plenary session indicated certain tensions in Croatia's relations with the OSCE Mission, Picula answered in the negative, saying Croatia was trying to cultivate a partnerly relationship with the Mission. Speaking about the future OSCE Mission in Croatia, Picula said the Mission's new mandate and scope must acknowledge certain facts proving the climate in Croatia had changed. The foreign minister conceded Croatia had not solved every problem and that some would remain unsolved for a long time, but said Croatia wanted to deal with what it and the Mission recognised as deficiencies by relying first of all on its own resources. (hina) ha sb