MESIC FOR LIBERALISATION OF VISA REGIME WITH SERBIA & MONTENEGRO

BELGRADE, May 5 (Hina) - Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said in an interview for a Belgrade television programme "Video-nedeljnik" (VIN), that he advocated the liberalisation of the visa regime between Croatia and Serbia-Montenegro, as, he said, this would represent an introduction of European standards in the region. #L# "I also advocate the cancellation of visas, conditions allowing, but this has to be regulated with a bilateral agreement," said Mesic in the interview which was published in Monday's issue of the "Danas" daily. Speaking about the struggle against crime, Mesic said it was evident that mobsters in Serbia and Croatia had cooperated during and after the Homeland War, evidence of which was the fact that the prime suspect in Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic's assassination, Milorad Lukovic Legija, was in possession of a Croatian passport. "If Legija could have obtained a Croatian passport, this is proof that he cooperated with somebody in the system of Croatian authorities. Those who (issued the passport) have to be prosecuted," Mesic said. The president stressed that Croatia was starting to function as a law-based state, which also improved its cooperation with the Hague-based international war crimes tribunal. "I said before, and was often criticised because of it, that Croatia was not functioning as a law-based state. If it had, many crimes would have been processed during the war when they happened. When the Zec family was slain, when other crimes were committed, the first cases should have been processed, then second and third cases would not have occurred," Mesic said. Speaking about Croatia's rapprochement with the European Union, President Mesic said he was "against entering the European Union like a convoy, with the first one depending on the last one in the convoy", but rather advocated "a model of a regatta -- whoever achieves the goals first should join". (hina) lml sb