We took note of the adoption of the delicate law in the Croatian parliament. On this occasion we reiterate the importance we attach to regional cooperation, as a general rule in the Western Balkans, including the cooperation in processing war crimes, and we call on Croatia to secure conditions for the continuation of constructive dialogue on the region when it comes to war crimes, said the spokesman for European Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele, Peter Stano.

Asked what kind of impact could the adoption of the said law have on Croatia's admission to the European Union, Stano said the Commission had previously informed Croatian partners of its concern with the draft law and that it would analyse if its concern was taken into account in the final version of the law.

The Croatian parliament on Friday adopted the law declaring null and void certain legal acts of the former Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) and Serbia, with five abstentions.

The law invalidates legal acts of the JNA, its judicial agencies and the judicial agencies of the former SFRY and of Serbia referring to the 1991-1995 Homeland Defence War in Croatia.

The legislation says that Croatia will not act upon requests from Serbia for legal aid when it concludes that requests are in contravention of Croatia's legal order and harm its sovereignty and security. It is the justice minister who will make the pertaining decisions.

Also adopted was a declaration regulating certain aspects in the cooperation between the judicial bodies of Croatia and Serbia.

The law regulating relations between Croatia and its expatriates as well as with Croat minorities in other countries was unanimously adopted. The relations will be within the remit of the central state office for Croats outside Croatia and a special council of the Croatian government.