SIMONOVIC: CROATIA, ITALY, SLOVENIA AGREE TO CONTINUE DIALOGUE

VENICE, Nov 26 (Hina) - The Croatian delegation attending the Mediterranean conference on fisheries in Venice on Tuesday agreed with representatives of Italy and Slovenia to continue dialogue on measures for the management of fisheries and the environmental protection of the Adriatic Sea. #L# "Today's meetings brought about an agreement on the continuation of bilateral talks with Italy and Slovenia," Croatia's deputy foreign minister Ivan Simonovic said after talks with agriculture ministers Giovanni Alemanno of Italy and Franci But of Slovenia. Simonovic said that Italy and Slovenia supported Croatia's proposal for a subregional meeting of Adriatic countries after the Venice conference to discuss the same issues. "Italy supports such a meeting, while Slovenia was not against. I think the prospects for it are good, and it would be logical for Croatia to host it," he said. Simonovic added that the meeting could be held in March next year, with the European Commission attending as an observer. The Croatian agriculture minister and head of the Directorate for Fisheries, Ivan Katavic, and his Italian counterpart Paolo Scarpa agreed to activate a joint Croatian-Italian fisheries commission. Slovene agriculture minister Franci But said that the issue of fishing zones and the issue of borders should be treated separately. (hina) vm sb