SCHROEDER ASSUMES THAT CROATIA WILL OBTAIN A POSITIVE 'AVIS'

BERLIN, March 10 (Hina) - German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said after talks with Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader in Berlin on Wednesday he assumed that Croatia would obtain a positive opinion from the European Commission to its EU membership application this spring and become an EU candidate.#L# "I assume that we will have the EU's opinion this spring and that Croatia will become a candidate," Schroeder said at a news conference held with Sanader, who is on a two-day official working visit to Germany. Asked about relations between Croatia and the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague, the German chancellor said the incumbent Croatian government, as the previous one, was building good relations with the tribunal. It is important for Croatia to do all it can, but I cannot withdraw what I said last fall, which is that you cannot hand somebody over if you cannot arrest them, Sanader said referring to the issue of the runaway Croatian general Ante Gotovina. Schroeder and Sanader said their talks did not address bilateral relations to a great extent, as both political and economic relations were good, and that there were no open issues between the two countries. Sanader agreed with Schroeder's assessment that there are no outstanding bilateral issues and reiterated that he expected Croatia to become an EU candidate during the Irish EU presidency in the first half of this year. Croatia is important for the stabilisation of the entire South-East Europe, the German chancellor said. He also said that relations with Croatia were good, regardless of which government was in power in the two countries, with relations between the countries' citizens contributing to the quality of overall relations. Sanader voiced hope that Schroeder would help in the promotion of Croatia's tourism by spending his holidays in Croatia. (Hina) rml sb