SLOVENE PRIME MINISTER COMMENTS ON RELATIONS WITH CROATIA

LJUBLJANA, May 21 (Hina) - Slovene Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek stated in parliament on Tuesday an agreement on the Krsko nuclear power plant with Croatia was good and balanced, while an initialled agreement on the border was blocked because the Croatian government was not capable to currently sign and ratify it. #L# Drnovsek responded to accusations from the opposition that the Krsko agreement was weak because it did not resolve the issue of nuclear waste and that the government forwarded it into parliamentary procedure forgetting that it was part of a package arrangement with the border agreement. Drnovsek said his government had done all it could to come to an understanding with Croatia with the aim of attaining acceptable compromises, "which never result in applause". The agreement on the power plant treats the question of nuclear waste which it did not do until now, the PM said. If Slovenia failed to ratify it, this could cause problems with Slovenia's relations with other countries and its access the European Union, he explained. Drnovsek maintains the ratification should be timed in co- operation between parliament and the government. If the agreement were not ratified, Slovenia could offer Croatia negotiations by which it would take on the power plant on its own and then offer Croatia a contract with conditions of power supplies, he said. As for the border agreement, the main problem was that once it was initialled, "strong attacks" were raised in Croatia in reference to the agreement's contents, said Drnovsek. Nevertheless, he added, the agreement has been initialled and accepted at the government level and any future agreement on the border will have to keep this in mind. This was the third question by the opposition referring to relations with Croatia. (hina) sp sb