RACAN AT CAMPAIGN TRAIL ON GOTOVINA, RELATIONS WITH SLOVENIA

CAKOVEC, Oct 14 (Hina) - Asked at a party rally in Cakovec whether the Gotovina case would slow down the process of Croatia's joining the EU, Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan said on Tuesday Croatia must accept the rules of the game, the laws and standards valid in the EU. At the Social Democratic Party (SDP) rally, the president of party and Croatia's Prime Minister, Racan, commented on the latest developments in the Gotovina case. #L# Over the past few days, ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte reiterated on several occasions that she had information that an ICTY indictee, Croatian fugitive general Ante Gotovina, was in Croatia, while the authorities in the country said they had no information which would confirm that. "Unfortunately, there are those on the Croatian political scene who support Croatia's joining the EU but oppose the fulfilling of ICTY requests, which is contrary to one another. Carla Del Ponte... is doing her job and we in Croatia are doing ours," Racan said. After the rally, Racan answered reporters' questions about Croatia-Slovenia relations. He said he was confident the two countries would resolve their issues after joining the EU if not sooner. "There is nothing else left for Croatia and Slovenia but to have friendly relations and I still believe there are no big difficulties between the two countries. They only seem big... particularly in the time of election fever in Croatia." "We will try to solve open issues in agreement with Slovenia as was the case until now with the border issue and the issue of former Ljubljanska Bank clients, but if international arbitration is possible, we won't oppose it and we agree to it in advance, which is a fair offer on our behalf. Many of these issue will become irrelevant after Croatia and Slovenia become full EU members," the SDP leader said. The rally pooled some 700 citizens. Questions were also answered by 14 of Racan's closest associates, mostly ministers and government members. (hina) it