SLAVONSKI BROD, Feb 22 (Hina) - Prime Minister Ivo Sanader met the leaders and business people of Brod-Posavina County in Slavonski Brod on Saturday, and later attended with associates an event marking the 14th anniversary of the
founding of the local branch of his Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party.
SLAVONSKI BROD, Feb 22 (Hina) - Prime Minister Ivo Sanader met the
leaders and business people of Brod-Posavina County in Slavonski Brod
on Saturday, and later attended with associates an event marking the
14th anniversary of the founding of the local branch of his Croatian
Democratic Union (HDZ) party.#L#
Speaking about Croatia's European Union entry at the ceremony, Sanader
said he expected the European Commission to give a positive opinion of
Croatia's membership application by the spring. "Croatia deserves that
and is willing to meet all the criteria set before it. We know how to
do it for Croatia's benefit."
Speaking of government priorities, he said they included the
construction of highways, irrigation, and demographic revival.
Addressing reporters after meeting Brod-Posavina County business
people earlier on, the PM said the government would have to slow down
the development of Croatian Railways owing to financial commitments
inherited from the previous government.
He said the irrigation project was as important as the construction of
highways, and that it was inconceivable that a country lying on water
should have experienced the kind of drought that Croatia did last
year. He added it was impermissible that this problem had not been
dealt before.
Speaking of the local Djuro Djakovic Holding, Sanader said the
government would propose an ownership restructuring model the basic
principle of which would be transparency.
The PM also commented on the problem of waste management. He said the
government was considering to propose that parliament adopt a
strategic decision on whether waste management would be entrusted to
local self-government bodies, as is the case now, or to the state.
(Hina) ha