MINISTER ZUZUL GIVES INTERVIEW TO APA AHEAD OF VISIT TO VIENNA

VIENNA, Feb 15 (Hina) - Ahead of his visit to Vienna, where he will present Croatia's ambitious plan to join the EU by 2007, Croatian Foreign Minister Miomir Zuzul gave an interview to the Austrian news agency APA, which published it on Sunday.#L# Zuzul said he was confident that Croatia would be ready to join the EU in the next three years. He believes that it is realistic to expect the European Commission to make public its opinion on Croatia's membership application in March or April. The foreign minister will meet his Austrian counterpart Benita Ferrero Waldner. In the interview, Zuzul commended Austria's permanent support to Croatia, adding that it was the support of neighbouring countries like Austria, Slovenia and Hungary that was very important to the authorities in Zagreb. Commenting on cooperation with the war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Zuzul said that his government would step up efforts to continue the cooperation. Zuzul described relations between Vienna and Zagreb as very good. There are no outstanding issues between the two countries and Austria is Croatia's most important trade partner, he said. The minister said that a Croatian state delegation would pay an official visit to Vienna in a week's time. The interview was also carried by the German agency DPA. (Hina) rml