PICULA: ECONOMY IS CROATIA'S STRONGEST POINT IN ITS APPLICATION FOR EU

ZAGREB, Oct 22 (Hina) - Croatia's economy is one of the country's strongest points in its application for EU membership and the coming presentation in Brussels should help EU officials to get acquainted with Croatia's economic potentials, Foreign Minister Tonino Picula said in Zagreb on Wednesday. #L# Picula will lead a delegation of Croatian companies during a visit to Brussels on October 28 and 29 and hold talks with European Commission officials -- European Commissioner for External Affairs Chris Patten and Commissioner for Enlargement Guenther Verheugen. Picula will also hold a presentation about the state of Croatia's economy. "After this visit we want that Croatia be perceived as a country which has been changing in economic terms for a series of years," said Picula adding that the meeting with Patten would be "an opportunity to include our economy in arguments for EU membership". "I believe that the state of our economy and our macroeconomic indicators will be an important criterion for membership," Picula said. However, "political criteria remain paramount", said the minister. Picula said this was the right moment for such a presentation of Croatia's economy in Brussels given that the period until spring 2004 is crucial for receiving the European Commission's positive opinion (avis) regarding Croatia's application to join the EU, which Zagreb submitted in spring 2003. "This period is crucial for our ambition to join the EU in the next wave, which should take place by 2010," Picula said. Ivica Mudrinic, the chief executive of national telecom operator HT, controlled by Deutsche Telekom, who will also attend the presentation, said that Croatia, through its economy, had already integrated with the European Union to a great extent. "This visit is aimed at improve Brussels's perception of Croatia. We are convinced that Croatia's economic potentials are much greater than those seen by the EU," Mudrinic said. (hina) it