OSCE ends presence in Croatia

(ZAGREB) - The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe ended its 15-year presence in Croatia on Tuesday, just days before the country is expected to support EU entry in a referendum.

"The longtime OSCE presence in Croatia contributed significantly to the country's democratic development," the OSCE and the Croatian foreign ministry said in a joint statement as the OSCE officially closed its Zagreb bureau.

The statement, issued after a meeting of Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic and OSCE Secretary General Lambert Zannier, highlighted the OSCE's contributions to "protection of human rights, the return of refugees (from the 1991-1995 conflict), processing of war crimes, media freedom and development of civil society."

Pusic and Zannier agreed that ending of the OSCE presence in Croatia, where "conditions from the mandate of (its) mission were completely met," could serve as an example to other countries in the region.

The OSCE mission opened in 1996 after the end of the four-year war that followed Croatia's declaration of independence from the former Yugoslavia.

In 2007, when most of its mandate was fulfilled, the mission was ended but an OSCE office in Zagreb continued to monitor the return of Serb refugees and the handling of war crimes cases by local courts.

On Sunday Croatians will vote in a referendum on their country's membership in the European Union, that is set for mid-2013.