” “A White Book on intercultural dialogue. It is one of the goals set out by the Council of Europe, an international organisation bringing together 46 countries across the continent. A hearing is going to be held at the Strasbourg premises on the subject, to coincide with the autumn session of the Parliamentary assembly (2-6 October) and the Conference of International non-governmental organisations (from tomorrow Friday 6 October). The CoE meeting is also tackling, over these days, the "EU future" of the Balkans. In his speech to the floor, the prime minister of Croatia, Ivo Sanader, reviewed the efforts made by his country in this sense and explained: "We must not forget our European history of conflicts if we want it not to happen ever again. Integration is the only alternative option for us" to war and tension with the neighbouring countries. On his part, the chairman of the assembly, the Dutch René van der Linden, stated, about the forthcoming accession of Bucharest and Sofia to the EU: "My only regret is that we have not been too strict in checking on Romania and Bulgaria. That would have helped those countries solve such problems as the reform of justice and the fight against corruption, and would have avoided the requirements for them to join the EU", that have been recently established by Barroso’s Commission.” “
