CROATIAN DEFENCE MINISTER SAYS THERE ARE NO OPEN ISSUES BETWEEN CROATIA, HUNGARY

KASZO, March 25 (Hina) - There are no open issues between Croatia and Hungary, Croatian Defence Minister Berislav Roncevic said after talks with his Hungarian counterpart Ferenc Juhasz in Hungary's Kaszo on Thursday. The talks are held annually as part of the Bilateral Military Cooperation Plan.#L# "Hungary strongly supports Croatia's ambition to join NATO," Roncevic said and added Hungary would soon take over from France the role of Croatia's immediate contact country for NATO. The Hungarian minister also stressed the two countries' cooperation was good. Answering to a reporter's question, Minister Roncevic said he and his Hungarian counterpart talked about the two countries' cooperation in combating terrorism. An agreement on the protection of confidentiality of data is important for relations between contact countries, Roncevic said and added that such an agreement had already been drafted and members of the two countries' government should sign it. "We wanted to hear about Hungary's experience in the process of reform, adjustment and admission to NATO, given that Hungary has recently marked the five-year anniversary of joining the Alliance," Roncevic said. Roncevic said he informed his Hungarian counterpart of the course of the reform and the process of adjusting Croatia's Armed Forces to NATO standards. "During the working lunch, we've exchanged views about the participation in peace missions, given that Hungary is actively participating in missions in Iraq and Croatia has a significant role in Afghanistan," the Croatian minister said He said there was a lot of room for advancing the two countries' cooperation and partner relations. The Hungarian minister expressed conviction this would contribute to insurance of peace in this part of Europe. (Hina) it