CLUBS OF DEPUTIES SUPPORT RATIFICATION OF SUCCESSION AGREEMENT

ZAGREB, Feb 25 (Hina) - All clubs of deputies on Wednesday supported a bill on the ratification of an agreement on the succession to the former Socialist Yugoslavia asking of the government to, despite the ratification, continue the process of searching for close to US600 million that were missing from the package of property to be succeeded.#L# Parliamentary deputies agreed that the agreement was not fair but that any further delay of the ratification could cause damage to Croatia. Damir Kajin of the Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS) believes that parliament should have ratified the agreement, which has already been ratified by all former Yugoslav countries, back in 2001 when Slovenia was prepared to solve the Lubljanska bank issue outside of the succession process. Milorad Pupovac of the Independent Democratic Serbian Party (SDSS) said the ratification had been postponed because there was no political will. He hailed the fact that the succession agreement would enable the restitution of tenancy rights to all formed Yugoslav citizens, without discrimination. Under the agreement, Croatia would assume the commitment to recognise the ownership, protection and restitution of property to citizens of the former Socialist Yugoslavia, and to adjust pensions earned in other successor countries to those earned in Croatia. This afternoon parliament debated a final bill on the ratification of the 1996 agreement on military training cooperation between Croatia and Turkey. The Croatia-Slovakia agreement on cooperation in cases of disasters and the Croatia-Slovenia agreement on border control in road and railway transport were ratified in an urgent procedure without a debate. (Hina) it sb