PRIME MINISTER BRANDS HSS INTERPELLATION REQUEST AS ACT OF PETTY POLITICS

ZAGREB, March 26 (Hina) - Croatia's Prime Minister Ivo Sanader has described the interpellation request of Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) regarding the government's conduct in negotiations on the so-called Protocol VII as "an act of petty politics of former Agriculture Minister Bozidar Pankretic and those whom he has deluded".#L# The HSS handed over the interpellation request to the parliament head yesterday, and members of other opposition parties supported its move. Our conduct is absolutely legal, we behave as we behave in any other kind of negotiations on international treaties which will be ratified by the parliament, Sanader told reporters in the government building on Friday. The HSS has accused the government of acting unlawfully when it started negotiations with the European Union on quotas for the import of agricultural produce from the Union, which are to go into force on 1 May when 10 new members join the EU. HSS member Pankretic has said that the law on the implementation of the Croatia-EU Stabilisation and Association Agreement envisaged a platform for negotiations on trade and other issues, which the Croatian government should define and the parliament confirm. He said that this procedure was not respected. Sanader today said the government would respond to the interpellation within eight days. He also stressed that Croatia's team would do its best to achieve good results for Croatia at the negotiations on Protocol VII. He said that his Cabinet was conducting negotiations on the matter under the law on the conclusion of international agreements and not under the law on implementation of the SAA, as it was not relevant in this case. Croatia is negotiating directly with the EC which represents the 10 accessing countries and not with the transitional committee or the council for the SAA implementation, given that the latter still does not exist as the SAA has not been ratified by all EU member-countries, the PM said. (Hina) ms