Strasbourg, 27.06.2012 - Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanović today backed action by the Council of Europe in South East Europe and pledged to work to build cohesion and reduce regional differences in South East Europe and beyond.

Croatia’s entry to the EU in 2013 would not mean that its borders became a dividing line between west and east, said Mr Milanović, adding that the country’s experience of economic revival and reconciliation was available in the Council of Europe’s work with the “neighbourhood” countries around the Mediterranean.

He called for strengthened Council of Europe action in Kosovo to ensure lasting peace, and for Bosnia and Herzegovina to find a way of changing its constitution in line with judgments by the European Court of Human Right, part of a necessary set of reforms to ensure equality for all three of the country’s constituent peoples.

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- Croatia and the Council of Europe