mr president in the stormy waters of the global economic crisis it is encouraging to see that croatia is holding a steady course towards membership
the progress so far has been impressive but i want to emphasise that this positive momentum should now feed into other areas where much remains to be done
there are two points i would like to stress here today
the first is the reform and strengthening of the judiciary
a robust and independent judicial syste m is absolutely essential in order to fight corruption and to ensure the rule of law in the long term
it is not merely a matter of arresting criminals it is about dealing with them afterwards
otherwise efforts to tackle corruption and organised crime will have no effect
the second point i want to mention is the need for society in croatia to build on tolerance
the european project is about reconciliation and this applies not only between countries and i applaud the improved relations with croatia's neighbours but within them as well
threats of violence against minorities are completely unacceptable
i fully understand how difficult this is but i am of the firm belief that this would not only boost the accession talks but also that the effort itself would be of direct benefit to croatian society
