CROATIAN FOREIGN MINISTER ON ADRIATIC CHARTER, CANADIAN VISA REGIME

SISAK, May (Hina) - Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula said on Thursday evening at the celebration marking International Labour Day in Sisak that Croatia, Albania, Macedonia and the United States would signed the Adriatic Charter in Tirana on Friday. #L# The charter envisages the U.S. support to the three countries and their cooperation in meeting conditions for joining NATO. The foreign minister of the said countries will sign the charter in Albania's capital at the proposal of the United States. After the signing, the four countries are obliged to accelerate efforts invested in joining NATO, Picula said. He said that claims of a weekly that "the U.S. has once again cancelled the signing of the Adriatic Charter and that it is punishing Croatia" were completely unfounded. Commenting on a visa problem with Canada, the minister said officials were doing everything to remove such obstacles that a large number of particularly male Croatian citizens were facing while trying to travel to Canada. "We must find a way to convince Canada to change or completely revoke the D-20 form which includes questions on the participation in the Homeland War and political orientation. Naturally, we don't like this because all Croatian citizens are suspects from the start, and this is hardly acceptable for us," Picula said. He reminded that in 1996, Croatia cancelled the visa regime for Canadian citizens on its own, while Canada did nothing to alleviate the visa regime for Croatian citizens. "Should Canada fail to show enough progress, we can always introduce the visa regime, if not for all Canadian citizens than for those with diplomatic or official passports," Picula said. He expressed hope that this would not take place, but that talks on the issue would be conducted. Asked whether he signed the D-20 form for the Canadian visa, which parliament president Zlatko Tomcic declined to do, Picula said that he was in Canada, but that he also participated in the Homeland War from day one and that this was all he can say about that issue. (hina) it