MESIC HOLDS BILATERAL TALKS IN MONTERREY

MONTERREY, March 22 (Hina) - Croatian President Stjepan Mesic held talks with several heads of state during a U.N. conference on development financing in Monterrey on Friday. #L# Talks with US President George W. Bush and French President Jacques Chirac focused on bilateral relations and Croatia's aspirations to join Euro-Atlantic institutions as soon as possible. During a separate meeting with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflik, the two officials said they wanted economic relations and connections between their countries to be restored to an earlier level and the stalemate caused by problems in Algeria and the crisis in the former Yugoslavia to be overcome. Mesic also held talks with Chilean President Ricardo Lagos, who will visit Croatia soon. The two presidents said that the visit would be an opportunity for reaching an agreement on expanding and strengthening political and economic ties. (hina) lml