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Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman attended the Community of Democracies (CoD) conference and a high-level meeting on international humanitarian law as part of the 76th UN General Assembly in New York.
The CoD conference focused on the recovery from the pandemic and strengthening the resilience of democracies to future crises. “Our countries are putting forth great efforts in the fight against the pandemic. We have to learn from the last 18 months and boost our resilience to future crises,” Grlić Radman underscored.
“Although the pandemic is still posing a challenge to the whole world, it puts additional pressure on countries which already were in a difficult political or economic situation. In these countries, we are witnessing various violations of human rights, from discrimination to inhuman punishment,” said the minister. He underlined Croatia’s readiness to help countries that had recently experienced conflicts by sharing experiences in post-war recovery, adding that Croatia, as member of the Economic and Social Council 2022-2024, would make every effort to ensure a strong multilateral response to the pandemic.
The high-level meeting on international humanitarian law discussed improving oversight and ensuring that the norms are respected.
“In conflicts currently taking place around the world, we are witnessing deliberate violations of international humanitarian law, such as attacks on civilians and civilian facilities, including employees of humanitarian and health organisations. As a country that has experienced the Homeland War, Croatia is especially committed to strengthening respect for international humanitarian law,” stressed Grlić Radman in his address.
He underlined the importance of keeping records of war crime victims, calling it an integral part of efforts to improve the oversight of international humanitarian law and human right violations. “Keeping reliable and verifiable records of war crime victims is key for future determination of responsibility and can help determine whether a conflict saw the commitment of war crimes and crimes against humanity. This serves to not only determine the number of victims, but also shed light on the identity and fate of each individual. Given that Croatia is still searching for 1858 missing persons from the Homeland War, we are particularly sensitive to this subject,” the minister said.
During the third day of his visit to the U.S., Grlić Radman also held talks with Moldovan Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu on bilateral relations, the prospects for strengthening cooperation and the Eastern Partnership.