In the statement for the press after the meeting Prime Minister Milanović noted that it was a special privilege and professional pleasure for him to talk to the Secretary General concerning human rights, situation in the region and the implementation of the highest standards of the European Human Rights Convention. „Today, we are talking in a completely different tone and about different content with the Council of Europe than we did in the previous years and decades, when we were, quite rightly, pressured to abide by the standards that were normal and expected, but that we due to our objective situation and to some subjective deficits were not able to comply with. But now, we finally are, and as long as I am Prime Minister we shall abide by the highest standards of the European Human Rights Convention“. Prime Minister also said that he informed the Secretary General about the manner in which representatives of ethnic minorities are elected in the Republic of Croatia, in which – he said –all the details are taken into consideration, e.g. the election of Deputy Municipal Prefect or Deputy Mayor from the ranks of the ethnic minorities where their share in the population exceeds 15 percent, and these are relatively rare mechanisms in Europe, complicated to implement.

On the occasion, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, congratulated Croatia on its pending membership of the European Union. He said that Croatia benefited from the „pressure“ of the Council of Europe, because what it eventually implemented was a very important precondition to membership of the European Union. „It was always so that any country that wished to become a member of the European Union first had to meet all the standards of the European Human Rights Convention“. He said that the priorities are combating corruption, combating hate speech and protecting minorities, and that in this sense the Council of Europe and Croatia have common goals. „Today, Croatia is a very important Member State of the Council of Europe and thus a very important state in this region where there are some problems still to be solved“, concluded the Secretary General.

Asked about the recent visit of the President of Azerbaijan and the characterization of Azerbaijan as a „not quite democratic state“, the Prime Minister said that he made a mistake in regard of Azerbaijan. „What I said was inconsiderate to our guests, because it was eventually used against them in their own country. I did not criticise Azerbaijan, I expressed my full understanding for the present situation of this country.“ He said that this situation was brilliant in terms of the economy, but not so great politically, considering the surroundings of this state. „As for Azerbaijan itself, it is, of course, a democratic state. Not just formally.“ He added that Azerbaijan was not a single-party state, and that it had free multiparty elections. „But to say that it is not a democratic state is wrong, and when someone then misuses that statement, in Azerbaijan, that I will not allow. Because it is very clear what the intent of my words was and what I wanted to say when I spoke. I wanted to denounce the hypocrisy of some people. We must work, create jobs and work with normal states, and Azerbaijan is a completely normal state“, said Prime Minister Milanović noting that Azerbaijan is a state that was almost exclusively a Muslim State, but where women enjoy rights they do not have in most other Muslim states. „So, my apologies - if I have been misunderstood – to our friends in Azerbaijan, and I ask others not to use my words in their petty schemes“, concluded the Prime Minister adding that if Azerbaijan were not a democracy according to the standards of the Council of Europe, it would not be a Member State of that organization, as it has been since 2001.

To the question about transgender persons who, according to the Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe should be better regulated in the Law on Vital Records, the Prime Minister responded that transgender persons are members of society just like anybody else, and that he would study what it was all about. „If the problem lies in divergence from the European practice, we shall harmonize things. I have not been informed about this to date, nor did anyone protest about it. There are so many laws, so many regulations, and if this issue diverges from any existing conventions, we shall change things.“