Croatia can be a model in the regulation of national minorities' rights today and even though it encounters some serious problems on a daily basis, it has the strength to solve them, said the president.
With its idea of respecting national minorities and organising the exercise of those rights, Croatia will be an even greater model tomorrow, he said, adding that national minorities were a treasure that connected us with other countries.
Therefore, the regional policy, a policy of peace and cooperation, is a good policy for Croatia and it should be carried through, said Josipovic.
Speaking of the most frequent issues Croatia faced, he said they mostly referred to non-compliance with the constitutional law on national minorities, notably with regard to proportional representation in some bodies of government.
In practice, there are still problems with returns. Everyone has the right to return, to their property, but living conditions, such as electricity, water or employment, make return or the life of those who have returned difficult, said the president.
He said the times when people who wanted to return were physically threatened were fortunately over and that Croatia could now solve other problems, which he said Croatia could do and that it was good for it.
The five-day Regional School of Minority Rights was organised by the Zagreb Faculty of Political Science and the Council of Europe. It will address the protection of minority rights in Southeast Europe and elsewhere in Europe, examples of minority protection, and regional cooperation.