Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Gordan Jandroković participated in Belgrade ministerial conference on refugees and displaced persons

Along with the foreign ministers of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia, the conference also saw the participation of international partners – the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy, as well as representatives of the US, Council of Europe and OSCE

Along with the foreign ministers of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia, the conference also saw the participation of international partners – the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy, as well as representatives of the US, Council of Europe and OSCE.

The conference adopted the Joint Ministerial Declaration that defined the final framework for solving the refugee issue in the region and provided a clear direction for further activities. The Declaration also determined the frameworks of a joint regional program for finding durable solutions for refugees and displaced persons, whose primary focus is ensuring adequate housing. At the same time, the program closes the regional aspect of the refugee and displaced person issue and encourages countries to put forth relevant efforts on the national level. In Croatia’s case, this means the continuation of the existing housing program for refugees, former holders of tenancy rights.

Minister Jandroković pointed out the importance of today’s conference and thanked the international partners for the support and contribution to the process of finding durable solutions for refugees and displaced persons. He said Croatia remained dedicated to implementing the all-encompassing national return measures, while its participation in the Joint Regional Program showed its consistency in the implementation of the measures and standards for assisting refugees and displaced persons. This also proved important during the EU negotiations, when Chapter 23 – Judiciary and Fundamental Rights was closed.

Conclusively, he expressed satisfaction that the implementation of the Joint Regional Program would see financial support from the international partners as well, in the form of means gathered at the donor conference to be held next year in Sarajevo.

The conference participants agreed that the framework removed the regional-level refugee issue from the realm of politics and made it an exclusively humanitarian issue, directed at protecting the persons who have yet to achieve a lasting solution, with an emphasis on those most vulnerable. The important message of the Joint Regional Program is that each individual has a choice of returning to their country of origin or local integrations. The conference, therefore, called on all the refugees and displaced persons to take that opportunity and finally regulate their status.

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