MESIC'S VISIT TO BELGRADE OF SYMBOLIC, POLITICAL IMPORTANCE - MINISTER

BELGRADE, Sept 9 (Hina) - Belgrade is awaiting Croatian President Stjepan Mesic's visit with great pleasure, Serbia and Montenegro Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic said on Tuesday. #L# "This is the first real visit since the independence of Croatia. It will be symbolic but it will also have practical political significance for us and for Croatia," he told Beta news agency, adding that the visit would be an opportunity to surmise what had been achieved over the past three years as well as to discuss problems that still exist. Big progress has been made in relations between the two countries "considering all the open issues we inherited and how many serious problems in the past three years that we managed to resolve," Svilanovic said, stressing the special agreement on Prevlaka, procedures to pay pension allowances, and the temporary abolishment of visas. One of the topics to be discussed on Wednesday in Belgrade will be the status of national minorities. Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro adopted laws on the rights of minorities, Svilanovic said, expressing hope that this would help in reaching a bilateral agreement which should further advance the status of minorities in both countries. "One should expect that the results of (tomorrow's) talks will motivate both governments to continue resolving the problems that we inherited," he said. In that regard, particularly significant for Belgrade is the issue of Serb returnees to Croatia who are faced with accusations of war crimes, he said, adding that the government in Belgrade hopes this issue will finally be resolved so that it is made known who is accused, for what period and for which circumstances. Both Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro wish to enter the EU, Svilanovic said, adding that this aim would best be achieved if open and good neighbourly relations existed. (hina) sp ha