PRESIDENT MESIC SAYS CROATIA, SERBIA&MONTENEGRO MUST COOPERATE

PARIS, June 18 (Hina) - Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro have identical priorities -- entry into the EU and NATO -- and in order to achieve these goals, they must first learn to cooperate, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said in Paris Wednesday after meeting Serbia and Montenegro's President Svetozar Marovic. #L# "How can we show that we can cooperate with those further away if we are not capable of cooperating with each other," Mesic told reporters after the talks which focused on cooperation in all areas and Pope John Paul II's messages to Croatia during his third pastoral visit to the country. "They were messages about the integration of the EU, ecumenism, tolerance and coexistence," Mesic recalled. Mesic believes there is no alternative to cooperation between Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro, recalling the cooperation of Germany and France, which "were in war three times and today set an example in European integration and democracy". Marovic said this was another successful meeting symbolising a new spirit in this part of Europe. This is new enthusiasm and new political relations between the neighbours which want to cooperate and understand mutual differences, he stressed. Both countries share the wish to become part of a united, democratic and developed Europe, where both countries belong, Marovic said. (hina) lml