BELGRADE, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Western Balkan countries have made progress in combating corruption and organized crime, although those remain the key challenges on their path to European Union membership, senior EU officials said at a ministerial forum that opened in the Croatian capital Zagreb on Thursday.

    Praising the progress the Western Balkans had made over the past ten years, European Commission Vice-president Jacques Barrot said that corruption and organized crime still presented a huge challenge to the countries in the region, the Croatian news agency HINA reported.

    The sixth ministerial forum "Justice and Home Affairs - The EU and the Western Balkans" brought together representatives of Croatia, the EU French presidency, the European Commission, EU member states, Southeast European countries, and various EU agencies, to discuss joint efforts to improve cooperation on such important issues as visas, migrations, asylum, borders, and organized crime over the next two days.

    The Western Balkans, which is in fact the territory of former Yugoslavia minus Slovenia plus Albania, has been plagued by corruption and organized crime emerging with the ongoing painful transition.

    "In combating organized crime, more effective regional cooperation is necessary," Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said in his opening remarks.

    Sanader said that Croatia could contribute to the forum with concrete initiatives and with its experience in judicial reform.

    Barrot said the European Union was encouraging and helping the authorities of Western Balkan countries in the fight against xenophobia, racism, and discrimination, particularly against Roma or Gypsies.

    "We don't want to judge you, but to help you and open the doorsof Europe to you," Barrot said.

    France's Minister for Migrations, Brice Hortefeux, spoke of the prospects of EU membership for Southeastern European countries as agreed at a summit in Thessaloniki and of those countries' commitments.

    "This prospect can become a reality only if membership candidate countries meet all the conditions, and we all want this to happen as soon as possible," Hortefeux said.

    Hortefeux said that the main tasks of countries aspiring to join the EU should be fully establishing the rule of law, developing the internal market, combating corruption and organized crime, and adopting EU legislation to ensure the effective functioning of courts and the police, the common management of external EU borders, the lifting of visa requirements, and the countering of trafficking in weapons and human beings.