BELGRADE: CROATIAN, YUGO. FOREIGN MINISTERS SIGN THREE DOCUMENTS

BELGRADE, April 23 (Hina) - The Croatian and Yugoslav foreign ministers signed three documents in Belgrade on Tuesday - a protocol on the principles of border identification and determination, an agreement on readmission, and a cultural cooperation agreement. #L# Croatia's Tonino Picula said the Belgrade meeting, although "late", nonetheless strongly indicated that relations between the two countries were progressing. "Normalisation of relations" can finally be replaced with the establishment of conditions for good neighbourly relations, without forgetting the reality of and problems which still hamper Croatian-Yugoslav relations, he said. Picula and his counterpart Goran Svilanovic said their talks focused on borders and refugee returns. Border issues, including that of the Prevlaka peninsula and the termination of the UN mandate there, will be resolved by year's end, they said. "Prevlaka is neither a territorial nor a political issue any longer, but a psychological one" which has to be left to the past as soon as possible, said Svilanovic. As for the return of Serb citizens to Croatia, the Croatian government will step up returns and the settlement of returnees' property issues by the end of the year, said Picula. Croatian authorities hope the "return will become permanent," he added. Both ministers voiced hope that cooperation between the two countries would step up at all levels. The joint goal is integration into European institutions in which Croatia, judging by the latest European Commission report, has made considerable progress, Svilanovic said. (hina) ha sb