Addressing their joint news conference, President Josipovic said he was glad to see that the UN Secretary General had recognised Croatia's peace-making policy in the region and its importance in a broader context.

"This policy will gain in its importance with our EU membership given that Croatia, as a success story, will be an example to others," President Josipovic said, emphasising that Croatia's vital interest is peace and cooperation in all fields in the region.

He said that during his talks with Ban he had an opportunity to discuss serious issues which the international community was faced with.

The two officials also discussed the first 20 years of Croatia's membership in the World Organisation and in that period Croatia had crossed a lengthy road from a fledgling country that needed outside assistance to a present-day active member of the United Nations, which was offering its assistance to other countries.

In this context, Josipovic recalled that the crown of Croatia's active role in the UN was the country's nonpermanent membership in the UN Security Council in 2008-2009.

"We are participating in nine UN-led missions, with the engagement of our numerous military, police and civilian personnel," the president added.

He went on to say that his country supported the UN Secretary-General's efforts to preserve human lives and human rights in Syria and to reach a peaceful solution to a very complicated situation in that Middle Eastern country.

Josipovic described Ban's tour of the region as "a contribution to the policy of peace and cooperation which we are pursuing".

Expressing satisfaction with his visit to Croatia in the year when it was marking the 20th anniversary of its UN membership, the UN Secretary-General said that during the past 20 years Croatia and the UN had forged a firm partnership, and currently Croatian soldiers were deployed in the UN operations in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and in two Americas.

He said that Croatia had proved its commitment to the global peace and stability while it had been a nonpermanent member in the Security Council in 2008-2009.

Croatia has undergone an impressive transformation from a country receiving the international assistance to a country giving assistance to others, Ban reiterated.

Asked by reporters why, during his three-day visit to Croatia, he would not travel to the eastern part of the country which was the venue of one of the most successful UN peace missions, Ban said that he would like to visit Vukovar where, he said, the UN was conducting many projects.

Vukovar was the scene of one of the gravest war crimes committed on Croatia's territory and I hope that all perpetrators would be brought to justice, the UN official said.

Asked to comment on a statement of Serbian politician Vuk Jeremic, who is currently the General Assembly's chairman, that as long as he is alive he would not allow the admission of Kosovo to the UN, Ban said that the visit to Kosovo was part of a broader tour to the Balkan countries.

Kosovo's status is regulated by the UN Security Council's resolution 1244 and I will have an opportunity to comment on Jeremic's statement during my visit to Serbia and after my talks with him, the eighth UN Secretary-General said.

Josipovic added that Croatia's position on this matter was defined with the fact that Croatia had recognised Kosovo.

We want good relations with all countries in the region and we are trying to build such relations with Serbia, too. The statement given by Vuk Jeremic (as Serbia's foreign) minister is as expected, as this is Serbia's policy towards Kosovo, the Croatian president said adding that Jeremic should make a distinction between his function of the General Assembly's president and a local politician and that his statement might be viewed as inappropriate in the context of his chairmanship of the UN General Assembly.