She was speaking at the end of an informal meeting the ministers held in the northern Adriatic port.
The meeting addressed the situation in the region in light of the talks on Kosovo's status, with the participants concluding that the joint interest of countries in Southeast Europe is to close this issue in the interest of the people as a contribution to the stability of this region, said Grabar-Kitarovic.
The foreign ministers supported the international community, primarily the European Union and the Contact Group, in finding a solution to the Kosovo status issue.
The ministers welcomed the outcome of NATO's recent summit in Riga as an encouragement to continue with reforms with a view to reinforcing Southeast Europe's security dimension.
Grabar-Kitarovic said the participants in the Rijeka meeting discussed the further strengthening of SEECP with a view to making it a political framework for cooperation and having the Council for Regional Cooperation replace the Stability Pact as the chief operational body.
The ministers also talked about setting criteria for the selection of the future Council's secretary-general and a headquarters in one of the SEECP member states.
In her address, Grabar-Kitarovic said Croatia would use its SEECP presidency to organise meetings of foreign, interior, economy, justice and education ministers as well as a regional conference on energy.
The special guests at the Rijeka event were Montenegrin Foreign Minister Milan Rocen, Stability Pact special coordinator Erhard Busek, European Commission Delegation to Croatia chief Vincent Degert, and UN Mission to Kosovo chief Joachim Ruecker.
SEECP was launched in 1996 with a view to creating a climate of trust, good neighbourliness and stability in Southeast Europe. Croatia became a full member in 2004 and took over the one-year presidency in May this year. The other member countries are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Turkey. Montenegro applied for membership after becoming independent this year.
The chief goals of regional cooperation within SEECP are strengthening security and political cooperation, economic relations and cooperation in the strengthening of democracy, the judiciary, and the fight against crime.
The SEECP aims to strengthen good neighbourly relations in order to transform the region into a territory of peace and stability, thus enabling member states to join European and Euro-Atlantic structures.