SLOVENE PREMIER SPEAKS ABOUT RELATIONS WITH CROATIA

LJUBLJANA, June 17 (Hina) - Slovene Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek said on Monday he regretted the fact that the process of adoption of Croatian-Slovene agreements on the border and the jointly owned nuclear power plant Krsko had come to a halt, but added that responsibility for dilemmas regarding the two agreements lay with Croatia. #L# "Things are not developing well on the Croatian side, particularly as regards the border agreement. Attempts are being made in Croatia to lessen the importance of the (initialled) agreement on the border, which was concluded by the countries' prime ministers and confirmed on the same day by the two governments, in line with a previous agreement," Drnovsek told Slovene Radio. "The Croatian government is wrong not to have forwarded the agreement into the (signing and ratification) procedure. I hope the Croatian side will act maturely, which is the only possible basis for normal relations and the settlement of historical problems," Drnovsek said, adding that maturity was expected in European associations as well. Commenting on the Krsko agreement, whose ratification is on the agenda of tomorrow's session of the Slovene parliament, Drnovsek said that in case the agreement was not ratified until the set deadline, it would not become effective and the two sides would have to start negotiations all over again. "In any case, there is a possibility we might buy Croatia's share in the plant, but that also requires agreement, and a series of open issues may crop up," Drnovsek said, adding that the Krsko agreement was a huge step forward in relation to the previous situation because it regulated relations regarding the plant and the problem of nuclear waste disposal. (hina) rml sb