"We have had action plans, which have produced certain results, and the current action plan ends in 2015," Josipovic said, stressing that a lot still remained to be done. "The Roma community in Croatia made a great contribution to the Homeland War and to the cultural and economic life of Croatia," he added.
Josipovic said he was aware that the Roma did not have equal opportunities as other citizens of Croatia. "We must eradicate poverty and lack of knowledge, and do our best to reduce them to a minimum."
Veljko Kajtazi, member of Parliament representing the Roma minority, said that Croatia had programmes for improvement of the status of the Roma, highlighting the need for cooperation in order to put into practice the standards set out in those programmes.
Nura Ismailovski, Roma representative in the Zagreb City Assembly, said that the Roma saw a friend in Josipovic, and expressed a wish that young Roma's dream of becoming equal members of the community would come true.