RACAN: DEBATE ON ECONOMIC ZONE NOT PRE-ELECTION MOVE

ZAGREB/LJUBLJANA, Sept 8 (Hina) - Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan has said that he advocates dialogue on the issue of an economic zone in the Adriatic Sea although Croatia may declare it unilaterally, and stressed that this is not a pre-election move but an effort to protect national resources. #L# "Our government has made no secret of it that it has been dealing with the issue of protection of our economic and fishing interests, and environmental protection. I expect that Slovenia will understand our legitimate desire to preserve what is valuable not only to us but also to future generations of Croats and Europeans," Racan said in an interview with the Ljubljana-based Mladina weekly published on Monday. He said that the question of an economic zone in the Adriatic was not directly linked to the problem of the border between the two countries, and added that his government would not escalate relations with Slovenia. The prime minister said he was confident that the open issues between Croatia and Slovenia could be resolved, but added that failure to resolve them over a lengthy period of time would result in an escalation of political relations and would damage the climate of relations between people. "If we can't resolve the problems now, let's wait for both countries to become members of the European Union. And if we can't wait for that, then let's request arbitration, because disputes poison (relations)," Racan said. (hina) vm