BRIEF NEWS BULLETIN IN ENGLISH NO. 5287

MESIC SAYS BELIEVES CROATIA WILL GET POSITIVE AVIS RIJEKA, April 14 (Hina) - President Stjepan Mesic, who on Wednesday visited Primorje-Gorski Kotar County and the seaport of Rijeka, said he believed that Croatia would obtain a positive opinion of the European Union because it had met all the conditions. Objections refer only to one citizen, who is on the run and not responding to the summons of the Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal, while all other Croatian citizens have responded, either as witnesses or as suspects, Mesic said answering a reporter's question about Croatia's prospects of obtaining a positive avis.#L# Mesic said that the Gotovina case should not be an obstacle to a positive avis. Speaking of a new stand-by arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the head of state said the deal with the IMF was necessary for Croatia to have the credit rating it deserved. This will help Croatia to produce and export and transform itself from an import-oriented country into an export-oriented one, he added. EXPECTED DATE OF AVIS APRIL 20 - FOREIGN MINISTER ZAGREB, April 14 (Hina) - The European Commission is expected to issue its opinion on Croatia's EU membership application (the so-called avis) on April 20, Foreign Minister Miomir Zuzul said on Wednesday after a meeting with Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and Croatian ambassadors accredited to EU member and candidate states. "The expected date is April 20, but it does not necessarily have to be that exact date," said Zuzul, adding that Croatia expected the European Commission to forward its "recommendation to the European Council so that the decision on Croatia's status can be made". Zuzul said that during the meeting with the ambassadors, opinions were exchanged and a strategy on future steps agreed on. "We firmly believe that (Croatia's application) will be discussed on June 17 or 18, based on that recommendation," Zuzul said. He added that a conditional or an unconditional avis did not exist in the official terminology, but that Croatia could draw conclusions based on the recommendations given previously to other countries. The minister said diplomacy would be very important in the coming period, notably regarding communication with the European Commission about the dates of the avis and Croatia's status. Zuzul said Croatia's diplomacy was ready to make important steps in "this historical period ahead of us". He added, however, that even though diplomacy was important, the most important thing for a positive outcome were Croatia's internal affairs. CROATIAN PRESIDENT RECEIVES AMBASSADORS TO EU MEMBER AND CANDIDATE STATES ZAGREB, April 14 (Hina) - Croatian President Stjepan Mesic on Wednesday received Croatian ambassadors to EU member-states and candidate countries, the heads of multilateral missions to Croatia as well as Foreign Minister Miomir Zuzul and European Integration Minister Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic to discuss Croatia's tasks in promoting the country's interests in the world. According to a press release issued by the president's office, Zuzul and Grabar Kitarovic informed the president of the meeting they held with Croatian ambassadors earlier this week. Grabar Kitarovic informed the president of the course of negotiations on Protocol VII. Mesic said Croatia's fundamental orientation was the European Union and stressed the country's role in the stabilisation of Europe's southeast. In that light, Mesic pointed to the importance of cooperation with neighbouring countries. The talks also focused on Croatia's cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. DEL PONTE TALKS WITH VERHEUGEN ABOUT CROATIA'S COOPERATION WITH ICTY ZAGREB, April 14 (Hina) - The chief prosecutor of the UN war crimes tribunal, Carla del Ponte, on Wednesday talked on the phone with the EU's enlargement commissioner, Guenter Verheugen, about Croatia's cooperation with the tribunal, del Ponte's spokeswoman Florence Hartmann told Hina. The European Commission has said that it will publish its opinion on Croatia's application for EU membership next Tuesday, after a session in Strasbourg. Cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal is one of the preconditions for a positive avis. Hartmann would not reveal any details of the talks between del Ponte and Verheugen. The UN tribunal's chief prosecutor does not have any visit to Brussels scheduled until Tuesday. Great Britain and the Netherlands, which have not ratified Croatia's Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU, have been consistently repeating that a positive assessment by del Ponte of Croatia's cooperation with the tribunal is a precondition for a positive avis. The EC will forward its opinion to the European Council, which makes the final decisions on granting candidate status and on the date of the start of negotiations on full membership. SLOVENE MINISTER: CROATIA HAS MADE MOST HEADWAY LJUBLJANA/BRUSSELS, April 14 (Hina) - Janez Potocnik, the candidate for the first Slovene European Union commissioner, answered for 90 minutes questions by European Parliament members about his views on EU expansion during the introduction of new European commissioners on Wednesday. Potocnik commented on the western Balkans and Croatia, which he described as a country that had made the most progress. Potocnik, Slovenia's incumbent European Integration Minister, is expected to work together with the European Commissioner for Enlargement, Guenter Verheugen, in the European Commission until October, when the term of office of the current Commission expires. Western Balkan states need clear European prospects, they are the ones that can do the most for their European future, but they also need unselfish support on that path, Potocnik said, adding that Croatia had made the biggest progress in this context. "Croatia has made the greatest progress and I sincerely hope that in the coming weeks it will obtain a positive opinion of the European Commission," Potocnik said. Asked by a Socialist deputy from Austria, Hannes Swoboda, whether Croatia should solve outstanding issues with Slovenia before joining the EU, Potocnik answered that bilateral issues should be settled through bilateral negotiations, and those pertaining to the European 'acqui' in line with the acqui. The problem of demarcation of the borderline at sea is a bilateral issue, while Croatian parliament's proclamation of a protected zone on the sea is an issue pertaining to the fulfillment of European rules, because the Adriatic sea must be protected in cooperation with neighbouring countries, Potocnik said. Commissioners from 10 countries which will join the EU on 1 May are to be confirmed by the European Parliament at its session in Strasbourg on 5 May. After that, the Council of the EU is to give the green light for their appointment. The new commissioners will be active in the current EC team led by Romano Prodi, whose term ends in October this year. They will have the right to vote, but they will not head any departments. Instead, they will be appointed to work together with commissioners from 'old' EU member-states. RACAN CONFIDENT EC HAS ALREADY DRAFTED POSITIVE AVIS ZAGREB, April 14 (Hina) - The leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Ivica Racan, has said that he has information on the European Commission having drafted a positive opinion on Croatia's candidacy for membership in the European Union and that the only remaining question is the date of its publication. Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, Racan said it was irrelevant if the opinion (the so-called avis) would be made public this or next month. He described as unfair a statement by Britain's Minister for Europe Denis MacShane, who said that Great Britain would not vote for a positive Croatian avis until the case of the runaway general Ante Gotovina was solved. He voiced confidence the position of an individual EU member could not prevent a country from obtaining a positive avis, but added that it could hamper the continuation of integration into the EU, including the obtaining of candidate status and the start of negotiations on membership. Racan reiterated that both the former and incumbent Croatian authorities had done everything to arrest Gotovina and hand him over to the UN war crimes tribunal. "It is therefore unfair for Gotovina to be an obstacle to a positive avis and Croatia a hostage to one man whose case it wants, but cannot solve". It is also unacceptable to criticise Croatia over Gotovina and ascribe credit for the voluntary surrender of six Croats to the UN tribunal to individuals, he added. The SDP leader believes that Great Britain will have understanding for Croatia and support its efforts to draw closer to the EU, because, he said, Croatia had deserved this in the last four years. "Support for the avis would be not only a gesture of goodwill towards Croatia, but an optimistic message to the entire region". Asked if a negative avis could lead to a national coalition of the SDP and the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Racan said this was hypothetically possible, but only on two conditions - that this is vital for the protection of democracy in Croatia and the country's prospects and that the coalition partner is a democratic party. "For the time being, I don't see any circumstances calling for such a coalition, and we do not see a reformed HDZ. We do see a reformed Sanader, but not a reformed HDZ," he added. He commended the HDZ's policy on the foreign front, but slammed its policy on the home front because of lack of an economic strategy and democratic conduct. "Sanader is a good politician who talks nicely and is good at covering up his government's tricks, but that can't last long because fine words butter no parsnips," Racan said. Speaking about relations with the UN war crimes tribunal, Racan said Croatia would best be defended with the truth and readiness to face the facts. "We were brave in the defence from aggression and the struggle for our independence, and we have to be brave in confronting the truth and facts which reveal the dark side of our recent history," he said. BEBIC SAYS PARLIAMENT WILL DEBATE ICTY INDICTMENT REGARDLESS OF AVIS ZAGREB, April 14 (Hina) - The Croatian parliament will next week hold a debate on political allegations from Hague tribunal indictments regardless of whether the European Commission will answer to Croatia's EU membership application on Tuesday, the president of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) club of deputies, Luka Bebic, said on Wednesday. After a closed meeting of the heads of clubs of deputies, Bebic said parliament would discuss the indictments on April 22 or 23. Asked whether the debate could have an impact on the avis that the European Commission is expected to make public on Tuesday, Bebic said the debate could not be harmful in any way because every nation and country had the right to aspire to the truth. He added the debate could not disqualify Croatia as a potential candidate for EU membership. "Regardless of the avis, parliament will hold the debate," Bebic said and added the HDZ club of deputies would try to hold a debate which would be in accordance with Croatia's interests and the interest of ICTY indictees. Asked whether a debate by MPs claiming that Croatia had carried out an aggression against Bosnia could bring into question parts of the Homeland War Declaration, Bebic said the HDZ was not questioning the Declaration, which he said had become part of important legal documents of the Croatian people. He said the parliament's leadership did not plan to formally limit the discussion, adding that it was up to deputies to see that they did not jeopardise Croatia's interests with their statements. IMF OFFICIAL: MAIN GOAL FOR CROATIA IS TO HALT RISE IN ITS FOREIGN DEBT ZAGREB, April 14 (Hina) - The new chief of the International Monetary Fund mission to Croatia, Dimitri Demekas, has said that the main objective of a new stand-by deal with Zagreb will be the reduction of risks to which Croatia is exposed because of its rising foreign debt. Croatia is one of the most successful countries not only in its close region but also in central Europe, but for the few recent years it has lived beyond its means, the IMF official said. We have not come here because of a crisis, but our priority is to halt the rise in the Croatian foreign debt, Demekas said on Wednesday after his talks with Croatia's Prime Minister Ivo Sanader in Zagreb. The IMF mission chief went on to say that representatives of Croatia and the Fund would try to find solutions in talks over the next ten days. In this context he pointed to the fiscal and budgetary policy as being of key importance for the accomplishment of the objective. What we have seen so far is a good starting position for the talks, Demekas said, adding that the second round of talks between the Fund and Croatian officials would be held in late May. Unit then the talks on a new stand-by arrangement could be completed, the IMF mission chief said and added that the new deal would cover a period of 18 months. PM Sanader was very satisfied with Tuesday's talks with the IMF delegation and their opinion on the situation in Croatia. "We had good, pleasant and meaningful talks on our plans," Sanader said. He added that his cabinet was very well aware of what was good and what was bad, including the high foreign debt, in Croatia. The PM went on to say that the arrival of the IMF mission should not be viewed as the arrival of a delegation which would admonish Croatia or tell Croatia what to do. "We are partners and we would like to use the know-how and good advice of IMF experts," the Croatian PM said. The mission is scheduled to meet Sanader again at the start of next week. CENTRAL BANK COUNCIL CONSIDERS LATEST MONETARY, ECONOMIC TRENDS ZAGREB, April 14 (Hina) - The Croatian National Bank (HNB) Council on Wednesday considered the latest monetary and economic trends, a draft monetary projection for the April-June 2004 period, and a report on the situation in the banking sector in the last quarter of 2003. The session was chaired by HNB governor Zeljko Rohatinski. The Council adopted a report on the central bank's transactions in 2003 as well as a number of decisions, the bank said in a statement. The stability of prices continues to be satisfactory. The kuna-euro exchange rate this March nominally went up 2.8 percent. The monetary policy in March saw appreciation pressure put on the exchange rate and reduced bank liquidity, which prompted the HNB to make four foreign exchange interventions. This resulted in the purchase of EUR162.7 million and the issuance of 1.2 billion kuna, and stabilised the exchange rate. CROATIAN DEFENCE MINISTER HOLDS TALKS WITH HIS LATVIAN COUNTERPART ZAGREB, April 14 (Hina) - Croatian Defence Minister Berislav Roncevic met his Latvian counterpart, Atis Slakteris, on Wednesday. The two ministers signed an agreement on bilateral cooperation in defence issues. Roncevic, who briefly addressed the press, said he informed his Latvian counterpart of Croatia's bid to join NATO and the course of Croatian reforms and moves the ministry and the government plan to take with the aim of making Croatia join NATO. The minister reiterated that joining the alliance was Croatia's strategic goal on the defence front. The Latvian minister said his country attached great importance to good relations with Croatia. Good bilateral relations have already been confirmed, Slakteris said, adding that Croatia and Latvia were among the first countries to recognise each other's independence in 1990. "Today we held very successful talks about the future cooperation," he said and added that Latvia could offer Croatia cooperation in education and military training. LATVIAN DEFENCE MINISTER RECEIVED BY SANADER, SEKS AND JARNJAK ZAGREB, April 14 (Hina) - Latvian Defence Minister Atis Slakteris, who is on an official visit to Croatia, on Wednesday talked with Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, Sabor President Vladimir Seks and the chairman of the parliamentary home affairs and national security committee, Ivan Jarnjak. Sanader and the Latvian minister considered bilateral cooperation in defence in light of an agreement the two countries signed earlier in the day on the matter. They also discussed the reform of the military and Croatia's bid to enter NATO. Present at the Sanader-Slakteris talks was also Croatian Foreign Minister Miomir Zuzul. Minister Slakteris strongly supported Croatia on its path toward Euro-Atlantic institutions, and offered help which Latvia could give Croatia on that road. MESIC AGREES TO LAUNCHING ESTABLISHMENT OF DIPLOMATIC TIES WITH PALESTINIAN SELF-GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY ZAGREB, April 14 (Hina) - Croatian President Stjepan Mesic on Wednesday received the foreign minister of the Palestinian self-government authority, Nabil Shaath, and agreed on launching procedure to establish diplomatic relations between Croatia and the Palestinian self-government authority, Mesic's office said in a statement. Shaath had suggested establishing diplomatic relations at a meeting earlier today with Croatian Foreign Minister Miomir Zuzul, who said he would propose launching procedure to that end to Croatia's president and prime minister. Mesic also advocated finding a just and balanced solution for the Middle East crisis. He said the solution to the problem should acknowledge two realities - the existence of Israel as a state and the right of the Palestinians to their own country. Shaath said Palestine appreciated Mesic's principled foreign policy, and relayed Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's greetings. Shaath and Mesic also discussed prospects of upgrading relations in the economy and culture. ZUZUL MEETS PALESTINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER ZAGREB, April 14 (Hina) - Croatian Foreign Minister Miomir Zuzul met in Zagreb on Wednesday with his Palestinian counterpart Nabil Shaath, with whom he discussed, among other things, the possibility of establishing diplomatic relations between Croatia and the Palestinian self-government authority, the Croatian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Shaath suggested the establishment of diplomatic relations between Croatia and the Palestinian authorities. Zuzul answered that he would contact the president of the republic and the prime minister to propose launching procedure to establish diplomatic relations. Zuzul also said that Croatia was ready to contribute, as much as it could, to the solution of the Middle East conflict. The Palestinian official invited Zuzul to visit Palestinian areas, which the minister accepted, the statement said. Earlier today Zuzul said the meeting with Shaath was an expression of "Croatia's balanced approach to that part of the world". UNION FEDERATION UNPLEASANTLY SURPRISED BY PM'S CLAIMS ZAGREB, April 14 (Hina) - The Association of Workers' Trade Unions of Croatia (URSH) said in a statement on Wednesday it was "unpleasantly surprised" by Prime Minister Ivo Sanader's rhetoric about trade unions in a prime time Croatian Television broadcast yesterday. Commenting on union leaders' claims that the government had done nothing to revive the economy and improve the living standards in the first 100 days of its term in office, Sanader said he advocated social partnership but could not accept to have unions "lecture" the government. "They didn't appoint the government so they won't remove it either, and if they want to lead the country they should go to the polls," Sanader said on the programme called Forum. URSH said today such rhetoric is "diametrically opposite to the dialogue held at the partner meeting with the union federation leaders a few days ago". "Since we elected you but not you us, we have to cooperate with each other so I expect at least a higher level of open and cultured dialogue," read the statement signed by URSH president Boris Kunst. MINE ACTION CENTRE SATISFIED WITH DE-MINING IN FIRST THREE MONTHS OF 2004 SISAK, April 14 (Hina) - The Croatian Mine Action Centre (HCR) Council adopted a report on de-mining in this year's first three months at a session in Sisak on Wednesday. In the first three months of this year, 52 de-mining and mine search projects were carried out on an area of 11.3 square kilometres, which exceeds plans by 19 percent, HCR director Otto Jungwirth said. A total of 1.8 square kilometres were cleared of mines and 989 explosive devices were discovered. An area of 9.5 square kilometres was searched for mines. De-mining activities in the said period cost 46.3 million kuna, of which 35 million was provided by the government, 2.3 million was secured through domestic and foreign donations, and the rest was secured from other sources, Jungwirth said. Five persons were injured and four were killed, including two mine-removal experts, in mine-related incidents. HCR deputy director Mirko Ivanusic said that an international seminar on humanitarian de-mining would be held in Sibenik on April 21-23. The event is expected to pool 250 participants from 32 countries. CROATIA WILL INSIST FREE TRADE AGREEMENT WITH BOSNIA BE RESPECTED ZAGREB, April 14 (Hina) - The Croatian government will insist that a free trade agreement with Bosnia-Herzegovina be respected. Its implementation is not in question and possible changes of the content of the agreement could be made only through bilateral talks in the way which would be satisfactory to both sides. This is the standpoint of the Croatian Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship Ministry which Minister Branko Vukelic and state secretary for the economy Vladimir Vrankovic presented at a news conference on Wednesday. All relations between the two countries are regulated by international agreements signed by both sides, but Bosnia clearly did not manage to prepare itself for the implementation of the free trade agreement, Vrankovic said commenting on a recent statement by the chairman of the Bosnian Council of Ministers, Adnan Terzic, who said that his government would reduce import tariffs for some food products from EU countries as a measure against "Croatia's monopoly" on the Bosnian market. Vukelic said that so far the two countries had problems in agriculture, adding that competent ministers were intensively working in order to solve them. Bosnia did not request that the free trade agreement be withdrawn or revoked, Vukelic said and added that the relevant Croatian ministry was not considering that either. SCOTTISH JUDGE TO REPLACE JUDGE MAY IN MILOSEVIC TRIAL ZAGREB/THE HAGUE, April 14 (Hina) - Judge Iain Bonomy of Scotland will replace British Judge Richard May at the trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), ICTY spokesman Jim Landale said on Wednesday. Judge Bonomy, 58, will take an oath on June 1, but he has already arrived in The Hague to become acquainted with the file, Landale said. Bonomy will have to review the file with all documents referring to the trial, including more than 30,000 pages of transcripts. The prosecution completed the presentation of evidence on February 25 and the trial is scheduled to resume on June 8, by which time Milosevic is expected to prepare his defence. SENIOR BOSNIAN OFFICIALS CONFIRM READINESS TO COOPERATE WITH ICTY SARAJEVO, April 14 (Hina) - Senior Bosnian officials on Wednesday signed in Sarajevo a joint declaration confirming their readiness to fully cooperate with the UN war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and bring to justice all war crimes indictees. The declaration, formulated by the Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina, was signed by the President of the Presidency, Sulejman Tihic, the presidents of the Croat-Muslim and Serb entities, Niko Lozancic and Dragan Cavic respectively, the chairman of the country's Council of Ministers, Adnan Terzic, the presidents of entity parliaments, Muhamed Ibrahimovic and Dragan Kalinic, and the entities' premiers. "Working with commitment on the creation of conditions for integration into Euro-Atlantic associations, the bodies of authority of Bosnia-Herzegovina and its entities express their political will and determination to cooperate fully with the ICTY. We undertake to invest maximum effort to bring to justice all war crimes suspects and call on all suspects to surrender voluntarily to the Hague-based tribunal," reads the declaration. The declaration is signed at a time when Bosnia-Herzegovina is expecting a decision from NATO member-countries on whether it will be invited to join NATO's Partnership for Peace programme at a summit in Istanbul. US Ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina Clifford Bond has recently warned that it is very possible that Bosnia will not be invited to Partnership for Peace at the Istanbul summit because it has not met the basic political condition, namely arrested Radovan Karadzic, and that responsibility for that lies both with the state and the Bosnian Serb authorities. DAILY: SJEKIRICA TO APPEAR BEFORE SPANISH INVESTIGATORS ON FRIDAY SARAJEVO, April 14 (Hina) - A citizen of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sanel Sjekirica, who is believed to be connected with terrorist attacks in Madrid in March, is currently in Sweden and is willing to turn himself in to Spanish authorities, the Sarajevo-based Dnevni Avaz wrote on Wednesday. The daily quoted Sjekirica on the front page as saying that he would travel to Madrid on Friday and that he had already talked to Spanish investigators on the phone. "I told (Spanish police) that I had nothing to hide and that I will depart from Sweden to Madrid on Friday evening," Sjekirica told the daily. He is currently in Sweden where he is staying with a friend, Suada Oric, according to the paper. The first secretary of the Bosnian embassy in Stockholm, Zeljko Grbic, has also talked with Sjekirica who confirmed to him that he is available to the Spanish authorities. A key to the entire riddle could by a Bosnian passport which Sjekirica lost. The Spanish police found a Bosnian passport with his name among documents possessed by terrorists who carried out the attacks in Madrid. Oslobodjenje, another daily from Sarajevo, reported on Wednesday that the Swedish postal services had lost the passport which Sjekirica sent to his mother in Spain last year to extend his visas where he and his mother had arrived earlier as Bosnian refugees. Although there were many media allegations on possible links between Sjekirica and Islamic terrorists, Bosnian state officials are very reserved in commenting on the case. Deputy Security Minister Dragan Mektic has said that the Spanish authorities asked only for a check up on Sjekirica's identity and that they gave no explanation whether he might be in any way connected with terrorists. Sources in the Croat-Muslim federal interior ministry said that Spain actually had asked for the confirmation of the identities of seven persons, including Sjekirica. DAILY: BUS WITH CROATIAN PLATES CARRYING JAPANESE TOURISTS DAMAGED IN NOVI SAD SUBOTICA, April 14 (Hina) - Almost all windows of a bus with Croatian licence plates carrying Japanese tourists in Novi Sad, Vojvodina, at the end of last week were smashed, a local daily reported on Wednesday. The windows were broken overnight while the bus was parked in front of a hotel in downtown Novi Sad, the daily said. The newspaper added that representatives of the city authorities confirmed that the bus was damaged, but the city police had no knowledge of the incident. The bus incident is the latest in a series in Vojvodina and Serbia since late 2003 when the Serbian Radical Party won the Serbian elections. The targets of the attacks have been property and buildings with the symbols of ethnic Croats or other ethnic minorities and their religious objects. WITNESS ACCUSES MILOSEVIC'S SON OF ORDERING DJINDJIC'S MURDER BELGRADE, April 14 (Hina) - Marko Milosevic, the son of former Yugoslav president and indictee of the UN war crimes tribunal Slobodan Milosevic, offered Serbian mobsters shortly after Milosevic's ouster in October 2000 five million German marks to kill Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, a witness at the trial of Djindjic's assassins said on Wednesday, the Beta news agency reported. In a testimony given at Belgrade's Special Court behind closed doors, witness Zoran Vukojevic reiterated his statement given during the investigation. Beta unofficially reported that Vukojevic said that Milosevic's son Marko offered mobsters five million German marks to kill Djindjic shortly after 5 October 2000. At the time, the principal indictee in Djindjic's slaying, Milorad Lukovic aka Legija, former commander of Serbian special police units, organised some people from the Zemun mobster clan, who provided additional security for and protected Djindjic. The indictment alleges that Lukovic and other people accused of Djindjic's assassination were provided with information about Djindjic's movements by a former employee of the Serbian Interior Ministry's State Security Service and indictee in the trial, who had connections with some members of Djindjic's security team. The trial resumes tomorrow. CRVENKOVSKI, KEDEV IN MACEDONIA'S PRESIDENTIAL RUNOFF SKOPJE, April 14 (Hina) - Macedonia will hold a run-off presidential election, with Social Democrat Branko Crvenkovski and opposition nationalist Sasko Kedev as candidates, the Social Democratic Alliance (SDSM) said on Wednesday after a little under 50 percent of ballots were counted. According to the SDSM, its candidate Crvenkovski has won 216,000 and VMRO-DMPNE's Kedev a little over 174,000 votes so far. Kedov's party confirmed that Crvenkovski was leading but said the difference in the number of votes won was smaller. The two ethnic Albanian candidates in today's presidential ballot, Gezim Ostreni and Zidi Xhelli, have won 25,000 and 13,000 votes respectively. The election commission said the turnout was over the required 50 percent, even though only 26 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots by 4 pm, and added that the voting was held in a calm and fair atmosphere, with only minor irregularities. IN OTHER NEWS: ZAGREB, April 14 (Hina) - Extraordinary flood measures, which were called on Tuesday for the Sava near the towns of Jasenovac and Slavonski Samac, for the Una near the town of Hrvatska Kostajnica, and for the Cetina near the village of Han, the town of Trilj as well as in the area around the Peruca Lake were still in effect on Wednesday evening, the Croatian Information Centre reported. Emergency measures were introduced at 5 pm today for the Sava in Slavonski Brod, Bebrina, Oriovac, Vrbje, Davor, Nova Kapela, Gornji Bogi~evci and Oku~ani in Brod-Posavina County. ZAGREB, April 14 (Hina) - European Integration Minister Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic will head a Croatian delegation in Brussels on April 16 at a fourth round of negotiations on an additional protocol to the Stabilisation and Association Agreement and Interim Agreement signed with the European Union, i.e. Protocol VII, which determines export and import quotas in trade with EU members. The delegation will include the minister of agriculture, forestry and water management, Petar Cobankovic, the European Integration Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. ZAGREB, April 14 (Hina) - Ukrainian Foreign Minister Costyantin Gryshchenko will arrive in Croatia on Thursday for a two-day official visit. He and his Croatian hosts will talk about the development of bilateral cooperation and new circumstances of the European Union's enlargement. ZAGREB, April 14 (Hina) - A Croatian-Slovene committee for economic cooperation held its seventh session in Zagreb on Wednesday to discuss economic cooperation in light of Slovenia's admission to the EU. After the session, the two sides signed a protocol stressing readiness to improve the cooperation in the new circumstances. Slovenia is Croatia's third most important trade partner and seventh most important investor. In 2003 bilateral trade totalled more than 1.5 billion, with Croatia's exports accounting for 510 million and imports for some one billion. Slovene investments in Croatia total 370 million. ZAGREB, April 14 (Hina) - The Croatian State Archives will take over materials which the Croatian Counterintelligence Agency (POA) collected after the 1995 'Flash' and 'Storm' operations in the areas which were liberated in those operations in May and August that year. Materials include the authentic materials of Serb rebel troops and paramilitary units and bodies of the self-styled Serb Republic of Krajina, the State Archive reported on Wednesday. The documents testify to systematic plans about attacks on Croatia and the aggression launched by Serb rebels supported by the then Yugoslav Peoples' Army (JNA). Upon the take-over of the documents, the State Archives will process them and make them available to investigators and historians. ZAGREB, April 14 (Hina) - Democratic Centre (DC) President Vesna Skare Ozbolt has said that her party will persist in efforts aimed at the founding of an international team whose task will be to establish what happened in Croatia during the Homeland Defence War in Croatia in the 1990s, and that this team, to be set up by the Croatian parliament, will include world-known politicians and diplomats such as Hans Dietrich Genscher and Peter Galbraith, who were witnesses to those historic events. The 1995 'Flash' and 'Storm' operations are the foundations of Croatia and its freedom and independence, and crimes, if perpetrated, must be prosecuted, but they must not be equated with those military and police operations, Skare Ozbolt told a news conference in Sibenik on Wednesday. Commenting on Croatia's bid to enter the European Union, she said that the struggle for the admission to the Union resembled the situation when the country fought for its international recognition in 1991 and 1992. "Croatia has met all conditions for its entry into the EU," the DC leader said, adding that the question was no longer whether Croatia would be admitted to the Union but when. SUBOTICA, April 14 (Hina) - Business people from Vukovar County on Wednesday were presented with a special award for participation in the 8th international Interexpo fair in Subotica, in the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina. The award was received by Vukovar County prefect Nikola Safer, who attended the opening ceremony with his associates and representatives of the city of Osijek. Commenting on the latest anti-Croat incidents in Vojvodina, Safer said that those were probably isolated incidents which did not reflect the general attitude of the local population and that he did not believe they could worsen bilateral relations. Ivan Marjanovic, secretary at the Croatian Chamber of Economy in Vukovar, said trade between Vukovar County and Vojvodina had increased tenfold in the last five years. BANJA LUKA, April 14 (Hina) - Republika Srpska Television reported on Wednesday afternoon that the premises of the Sveti Jovan radio station in Pale, which is owned by war crimes indictee Radovan Karadzic's daughter, were searched for several hours today, while the legal affairs director of the Srpske Sume company at Sokolac confirmed that police searched the company's directorate. Both searches were carried out by the Bosnian Serb entity police, on orders from the Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina. A number of items and files were seized. Neither the NATO-led Stabilisation Force nor the European Union Police Mission took part in the operations. THIS BULLETIN INCLUDES ITEMS RELEASED BY 2330 HOURS ON WEDNESDAY