Minister Pusić addresses OSCE ministerial meeting

First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Vesna Pusić delivered an address the first day of the OSCE ministerial meeting in Dublin. The minister said that “no country, region or society can be called democratic

First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Vesna Pusić delivered an address the first day of the OSCE ministerial meeting in Dublin. The minister said that “no country, region or society can be called democratic if its citizens cannot freely and safely realise their plans and ambitions regardless of their race, nationality, religion, political affiliation, gender or sexual orientation." She stressed the importance of empowering women, which Croatia strongly supports through multilateral and bilateral forms of cooperation.

"We are concerned about negative trends in some of the member countries in which violations of human rights and freedoms have been recorded," Pusić said. “Croatia can testify from its own experience that the OSCE and its field mission was of great benefit to us and we think it could greatly help other countries as well,” she concluded.

Pusić commented on the Hague war crimes tribunal's recent ruling in the case of retired generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markač, saying that the ruling “found beyond any doubt that the two generals are innocent.” The ruling does not say that no crimes were committed or that crimes were not committed by both sides, Pusić said, adding that Croatia would continue to prosecute war crimes. Croatia has been cooperating with the Hague tribunal following the institutional procedure, and the ruling was the result of that procedure. Croatia was cooperative in order to lay the foundations for regional cooperation as well. The ruling was passed by a tribunal founded by the UN Security Council. If our neighbours or anyone else has any objections to it, they cannot and should not be addressed to Croatia, but to the UN and the Security Council. "We want good relations in the region and will continue working on them. Respect for international judicial institutions and procedures must be a contribution, not an obstacle to such cooperation," she underlined.

Pusić met today with British Minister for Europe Lidington, her BiH counterpart Lagumdžija and French Minister for Europe Cazeneuve, while talks with Serbian Foreign Minister Mrkić are scheduled for tomorrow.
 

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