PM SANADER SPEAKS ABOUT UPCOMING NATO SUMMIT

ZAGREB, Feb 12 (Hina) - It is Croatia's ambition to see a better text on Croatia's prospects of joining NATO in the final document of the upcoming NATO summit in Istanbul, PM Ivo Sanader said on Thursday briefing government members about the course of preparations for NATO membership.#L# "NATO's policy towards Croatia so far has been a policy of "open doors", now we want the part of the document referring to Croatia to be better, Sanader said, adding that it was difficult to expect that Croatia would receive a membership invitation already at the Istanbul conference. NATO's Secretary-General will visit Zagreb in the second half of May, before the NATO summit, Sanader said. He also said that US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld had not exerted any pressure on Croatia during his recent visit and that he supported Croatia's aspirations to become a NATO member. Defence Minister Berislav Roncevic said that a team of 18 NATO experts would be visiting a number of bodies of state administration in Croatia between 16 and 18 February. Government members were informed about the fulfilment of obligations from Croatia's Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU, i.e. the first stage of work on Protocol 7, in light of the upcoming admission of ten new members to the EU on May 1. Individual agreements between Croatia and those countries are expected to be integrated into the SAA, Sanader said. He said that this was a technical protocol, and dismissed speculations that the accessing countries were demanding higher quotas for some exports to Croatia. The government entrusted the Agriculture Ministry with defining Croatia's negotiating position regarding Protocol 7 by February 19. The position will be defined in cooperation with other ministries. The first stage of work on Protocol 7 started in Brussels on Monday. Negotiations on the protocol should be completed by May 1, when ten new members join the EU. (Hina) rml sb