ZAGREB, Sept 3 (Hina) - Parliament president Zlatko Tomcic on Wednesday rejected requests by opposition parties that proclamation of an economic zone, Croatian-Slovene relations, forest fires and the foreign debt be discussed at
today's extraordinary session of parliament.
ZAGREB, Sept 3 (Hina) - Parliament president Zlatko Tomcic on
Wednesday rejected requests by opposition parties that
proclamation of an economic zone, Croatian-Slovene relations,
forest fires and the foreign debt be discussed at today's
extraordinary session of parliament. #L#
Tomcic said that these subjects would be discussed at regular
sessions of parliament starting from September 17.
Following a break during which the parties had consultations, Anto
Djapic of the Party of Rights (HSP) accused the ruling coalition of
obstructing the declaration of an economic zone in the Adriatic
Sea.
He recalled that this subject had been discussed at his party's
request two years ago, after which a parliamentary commission urged
the government to adopt a series of reports, including one on fish
stocks in the Adriatic, and to assess the effect of the proclamation
of an economic zone on international relations.
The government did not present any of these reports to parliament,
Djapic stressed.
"Now some new initiatives are being presented to the Croatian
public despite the fact that the subject of an economic zone has
been discussed in parliament and now should only be put to the
vote," the HSP leader said.
Tomcic also rejected a proposal by the Istrian Democratic Assembly
(IDS) party that a representative of the Foreign Ministry or the
government should update the deputies today on the state of
Croatian-Slovene relations in the light of Croatia's plan to
declare an economic zone.
IDS deputy Damir Kajin said relations between Croatia and Slovenia
were so bad that "Slovenes and Croats see each other as the worst
neighbours". He said that there was a "cold war" going on between
the two countries, and that the only good thing was that business
companies continued cooperating.
Kajin went on to say that "it's not good to play with borders in pre-
election times" and "I'm not sure if it's good for Croatia to play
with Italy against the other neighbour regarding the economic
zone".
Kajin said he doubted that Croatia would declare an economic zone,
adding that it would probably soften its stance and declare fishing
zones.
The Social Liberal Party (HSLS) also criticised the government for
its failure to inform parliament of this matter. Josko Kontic said
that the HSLS had requested a comprehensive discussion on foreign
policy in 2002 and that it was high time this issue was put on the
agenda.
Kontic said that the parliament was wiser than the government with
respect to Croatian-Slovene relations in that the Foreign Policy
Committee rejected a detrimental agreement on borders with
Slovenia, which was initialled by Prime Minister Ivica Racan in
2001.
Ivo Sanader, president of the leading opposition party, the
Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), said that there were three vitally
important topics in Croatia: foreign debt growth, forest fires and
relations with Slovenia.
Sanader agreed that proclamation of an economic zone need not be
discussed at an extraordinary session of parliament because it was
necessary to assess the effect of such a decision on international
relations.
He added, however, that he found unacceptable the fact that at this
extraordinary session parliament was not discussing numerous
forest fires that had hit the Adriatic coast and islands this summer
in order to identify reasons why the firefighters were poorly
prepared and equipped.
The HDZ leader said the country's foreign debt was growing
dramatically and could exceed 22 billion dollars by the end of the
year.
Parliament continued the session according to the agenda with a
discussion on a final bill on the protection of cultural
monuments.
(hina) vm