ZAGREB CONFERENCE ZAGREB, May 11 (Hina) - Croatian Parliament President Zlatko Tomcic on Saturday held talks with a number of foreign officials who attended a conference of European parliamentary assemblies, which ended in Zagreb
today, Tomcic's office said in a statement.
ZAGREB, May 11 (Hina) - Croatian Parliament President Zlatko Tomcic
on Saturday held talks with a number of foreign officials who
attended a conference of European parliamentary assemblies, which
ended in Zagreb today, Tomcic's office said in a statement. #L#
Tomcic and his Slovene counterpart Borut Pahor discussed the
ratification of a Croatian-Slovene agreement on the jointly-owned
nuclear power plant Krsko and border issues.
Pahor told Tomcic that the agreement on Krsko was being discussed by
the Slovene Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee. Tomcic said
that the bill on the ratification of the agreement would be
forwarded into the second parliamentary reading after the
government responded to MPs' objections to the bill.
The two officials also discussed the possibility of the two
parliaments holding debates about the agreement simultaneously.
The meeting also focused on the countries' agreement on the sea
border. Tomcic said that a vast majority of Croatian MPs did not
support its ratification. Pahor confirmed that talks on the issue
were at a standstill, but that there was a consensus on the Slovene
political scene that the initialled agreement was a good basis for
the continuation of the talks and that there was not much room for
changes to the agreement.
Tomcic also met the president of the Yugoslav Parliament's Council
of Civilians, Dragoljub Micunovic. The two officials agreed that
simplifying the visa regime and introducing tourist visas would
contribute to the improvement of relations and that the
standardisation of laws on human rights would create better
conditions for refugee return.
Tomcic said that the issue of refugee return was primarily a
financial issue for Croatia, and that all political factors in the
region, primarily in the Bosnian Serb entity, should encourage
refugees returns.
Croatia and Belgium have very friendly relations which are not
burdened by any open questions, it was stated during Tomcic's
meeting with the president of the Belgian Parliament's House of
Representatives, Herman de Croo, and Senate President Armand de
Decker.
Tomcic told the Belgian officials that Croatia was making efforts
to fulfil obligations towards the European Union, but that problems
which copped up in that process were of a financial, not political
nature.
De Croo expects that Croatia's Stabilisation and Association
Agreement with the EU would soon be forwarded into procedure in the
Belgian parliament. The Belgian official invited Tomcic to pay an
official visit to Belgium.
During his talks with the president of the Polish parliament, Marek
Borowski, and Senate president Longin Pastusiak, Tomcic thanked
for Poland's support for Croatia's admission to the Central
European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) and expressed hope that the
two countries would soon sign an agreement on friendship and
cooperation.
The two sides also discussed the restructuring of armed forces and
civilian control over the army, which are among basic preconditions
for admission to NATO.
Tomcic also met Aristos Chrysostomou, vice-president of the
Cypriot parliament. The two officials described relations between
the two countries as friendly but insufficiently developed.
Chrysostomou informed Tomcic about the political situation in his
country and its progress in adjusting national legislation to the
European Union standards.
(hina) rml