OPPOSITION AGAINST ALLOWING FOREIGN NUCLEAR VESSELS IN ADRIATIC

ZAGREB, May 22 (Hina) - MPs of the opposition in the Croatian parliament on Thursday opposed draft amendments to the Maritime Act which would allow nuclear-powered vessels or those carrying nuclear arms to sail into Croatian waters. #L# The opposition feels that the amendments served to appease NATO's maritime forces, while Croatia has no control or protection instruments to protect itself from possible disaster. Tonci Tadic of the Croatian Party of Rights/Croatian Christian Democratic Union bench believes that nuclear vessels should be banned completely FROM sailing into Croatian waters. "It is illogical that a ship with two nuclear reactors as large as the Krsko nuclear power plant be anchored in Rijeka Harbour, or that an American nuclear submarine sails off the coast of Dubrovnik in the midst of the tourist season," he said. Any form of liberation of this regime is unnecessary, has no grounds in international documents and serves solely to appease great naval forces in NATO, Tadic said. He advocated abandoning the Druzba Adria project until regulations are passed which would secure complete protection of the Adriatic from ecological incidents, and suggested that the Adriatic be given a status of a specially protected area. The opposition particularly opposed giving the defence ministry the authority to independently decide on the simultaneous entry of more than three war vessels from the same country into Croatian waters. Such authority, according to Mario Kovac of the Social Liberals (HSLS), should remain within the jurisdiction of the entire government, since the issue was primarily political, not technical. He said that allowing nuclear vessels to enter Croatia would cause possible terrorist attacks, even nuclear attacks in case of war. "There is no true development of tourism if we mix tourists and the beach with any form of military operations, especially with nuclear ships," Jure Radic of the Croatian Democratic Union bench said. Tonci Zuvela of the Social Democrats disagrees. He said that concern was understandable, but that other, extremely tourism- oriented countries in Croatia's neighbourhood, had a regime similar to the one proposed. He believes that problems can be avoided with maximum security measures and insisting on valid documents, certificates on financial insurance and responsibility of the ships' owners. All party benches advocated a clearer normative regulation and control of the movement of tankers in Croatian waters and drastic punishments for violations of ecological regulations. The Croatian Peasant Party insists on the passing of a law on the protection of the sea, i.e., as Ante Markov of the party said, on clearly defining a linchpin to protect Croatia's interests at sea. A law on harbours and maritime good is also necessary, he said. (hina) lml sb