Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Vesna Pusic attended the meeting as an observer. She held talks with Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and said she might talk with her Dutch and Slovenian counterparts, Uri Rosenthal and Karl Erjavec.
In the discussion on Syria, Pusic said "Croatia's position is that stronger sanctions, which many countries advocated, must be combined with an exit strategy, as stronger sanctions without a clear idea of where that leads to and what the objective is can only intensify tensions and worsen the situation there, which many here already see as the start of a civil war."
Together with EU countries, Croatia congratulated the Egyptian people on the democratic election of a new President, Mohamed Morsi.
"Egypt, a country with a crucial influence on the countries of the south Mediterranean, has embarked on a very important road, which makes this peaceful transition especially important," said Pusic.
She said the Egyptian foreign minister and another five ministers from South Mediterranean countries had announced they would attend the upcoming Croatia Summit in Dubrovnik.
Pusic said Croatia's experience in implementing fundamental reforms and building state institutions could be useful to the South Mediterranean countries which must also undergo those processes.
The foreign ministers today adopted a new strategic framework for human rights and democracy which envisages a special EU representative for human rights.
"We consider that especially important, notably combined with the establishment of a human rights foundation," Pusic said, adding that the "quality of the protection of women and girls in countries with peace missions is the best test and litmus-paper for the state of human rights in general."