SEKS: U.S. SUPPORTS CROATIA'S EFFORTS TO JOIN NATO

ZAGREB, Jan 22(Hina) - The United States will support Croatia's efforts to obtain jurisdiction over the prosecution of war crimes cases that are currently tried by the Hague war crimes tribunal, as well as its aspirations to join NATO, Croatian Parliament President Vladimir Seks said on Thursday after returning from an official visit to the U.S. #L# Seks visited the U.S. with Foreign Minister Miomir Zuzul. "We sought and received support for Croatia's judiciary to obtain jurisdiction over the prosecution of war crimes and crimes against humanitarian law that are currently under the jurisdiction of the Hague tribunal," Seks said. U.S. officials will make efforts to assure the tribunal that Croatia's judiciary is competent to try cases which are under the jurisdiction of the ICTY, Seks added. Aksed whether talks with U.S. officials addressed the Gotovina case, Seks answered in the negative. Speaking about the support for Croatia's admission into NATO and the European Union, Seks said it was expressed at talks with all U.S. officials, particularly those with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. "Powell fully supported Croatia's efforts to join Euro-Atlantic associations and promised all the necessary assistance," Seks said. Powell also expressed understanding for Croatia's obligations which refer to membership in the EU, whose member countries request that Croatia should not sign an agreement with the U.S. on the non-extradition of American soldiers to the International Criminal Court, Seks said. The U.S. Secretary of State expressed understanding for Croatia's position, Seks said and added that all other issues would be discussed at a forthcoming meeting between the Croatian prime minister and top U.S. officials. Seks said that both the House of Representatives and Senate would sponsor a resolution supporting Croatia's aspirations to join NATO. He added he expected the resolution to be adopted in the near future. Asked if Croatia could expect an invitation to join NATO in 2006, Seks said that the NATO summit in Istanbul in June, to which Croatia was invited as a guest, offered hope. "However, it will be difficult to win the consent of other NATO members, despite the resolution of both houses of Congress. NATO also needs to confirm that Croatia has met all political and other criteria for joining the Alliance," Seks said. Asked by a reporter whether they discussed the sending of Croatian soldiers to Iraq, Seks said the talks did not address that issue, "but we made it known that as a NATO member Croatia could make a decision to that effect". "The decision would be made by parliament," Seks said. Seks stressed that this did not mean that Croatian soldiers would be deployed to Iraq should Croatia join NATO, but that as a member of the Alliance "Croatia assumes responsibilities and commitments arising from NATO membership". The parliament president said he and Minister Zuzul held informal talks with the president of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly who accepted an official invitation to visit Croatia this spring. Seks expressed great satisfaction with the official visit to Congress and the State Department. During the visit, Seks and Zuzul held a series of meetings with senior officials of the Senate and Congress and chairmen of their foreign policy committees. The purpose of the meetings was to establish parliamentary relations with Congress for the first time since Croatia gained independence. (Hina) it sb