Josipovic said that accession negotiations with the European Union are not easy and that membership candidates are facing increasingly difficult challenges.
Commenting on relations between Croatia and Montenegro, Josipovic said that one of the pillars of Croatia's foreign policy is to provide support to its neighbours and friends on their path to EU membership. "Croatia will offer Montenegro all possible political and technical assistance in the accession process," he said.
"The process of negotiation itself is not easy, increasingly great challenges are put before the countries. The fight against organised crimes, serious economic reforms, human rights, including media freedoms, are the challenges that are not always easy to respond to," the Croatian president said, adding that he was confident that "Montenegro will experience a new renaissance by applying the highest standards."
"We have passed that road, and I can say that through the negotiations, through the reforms we have implemented, Croatia has become a better society," Josipovic said.
When asked whether it would have been possible for Croatia to become an EU member had it not been forced to take some painful decisions, including arrests of its senior officials, Josipovic said that "forced" was not the right word.
"I would say that we have matured to understand that without fighting organised crime there is no democratic and successful society. No one can force anyone to do anything, every country entering the EU accession process must want to do it and then do it," the president said.