UN General Assembly
2000

effective and fully at the disposal of all its Member States. That is why Croatia welcomes the millennium report of the Secretary-General and shares his views on the need for action to adapt the functioning of the Organization to the challenges of the new century. There is a growing need and plenty of room for improvement along the lines of efficiency, transparency, equality and good governance. There is no room for excuses or for delaying reforms any further. The time for reform is now. Croatia has been an active Member of the Organization since its international recognition as a sovereign State in the early 1990s. At that time, in spite of all our activities, Croatia was primarily the object of numerous peacekeeping operations and endless debates within the Security Council. Today, Croatia is a major generator of peace and stability in South-East Europe, an active promoter and facilitator of democracy in the region, a reliable partner and a member of numerous regional organizations and initiatives. We have not forgotten the difficult years when Croatia was on the