Ambassador Poncet says farewell to Croatia

ZAGREB, 14 December, 2001 - Ambassador Bernard Poncet will leave Croatia this weekend after two and a half years as head of the OSCE Mission to return to the French foreign ministry.

During his tenure, he saw the growth of an open and pluralistic atmosphere throughout Croatia as well as the development of a serious multiparty democracy at both the national and local level.

Ambassador Poncet focussed a great deal of energy on the return of the displaced population of Croatia insisting that all legal, physical, political and administrative obstacles to return be removed. "I believe some progress was achieved in respect to the situation of Croatian Serb refugees and Bosnian Croat settlers," he said.

Under his leadership, the OSCE Mission to Croatia also placed special attention on police reform. After a successful two-year operation, the mission's police monitoring group completed its tasks in the Danube region in October 2000, leaving an effective multi-ethnic police force behind them.

Ambassador Poncet strongly recommended that special attention be devoted to judicial reform and the practical implementation of the rule of law in Croatia since these will be the guiding principles for Croatia in its path towards European and Euro-Atlantic integration.

He also praised the Croatian media for their maturity as an important voice in the public debate on both domestic and international issues affecting Croatia.

He believes that the OSCE Mission, despite occasional frustrations along the way, made its best effort, under its mandate, to assist Croatia in moving closer to European norms.