SLOVENE POLITICAL PARTIES BLAST CROATIA'S DECISION

LJUBLJANA, Oct 4 (Hina) - Slovene political parties on Saturday slammed the Croatian parliament's decision to proclaim an ecological and fishing zone in the Adriatic. At the same time, they criticised the Slovene government for reacting "too tepidly", saying it should respond with counter-measures at once. #L# Opposition leader Janez Jansa expressed "regret at the unilateral move of Croatia's neo-communist authorities, because of which our Prime Minister (Anton) Rop has to beg before Italian Prime Minister (Silvio) Berlusconi". He added Slovenia would have excellent prospects of annulling Croatia's move after joining the European Union and NATO next year. The president of the Party of Democratic Pensioners, Anton Rovs, said the decision had been reached by Croatian right-wing MPs. He expressed concern about the Ustasha spirit he said escalated in the Croatian parliament when the decision was made yesterday. It "leads to the disintegration of Europe and is contrary to the spirit of association," he said. National Party leader Zmago Jelincic told Slovene Radio he had expected Croatia would make such a decision, adding that he supported the Slovene government's views. (hina) ha