YU MINISTER URGES REGIONAL COOPERATION AT BELGRADE CONFERENCE

BELGRADE, June 19 (Hina) - Addressing a conference of the foreign ministers of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) in Belgrade on Wednesday, Yugoslav Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic said he believed all countries in the region were willing to strengthen their relations, thus contributing to stability in the region. #L# All countries in the region aspire to European and Euro-Atlantic integration, they all now have democratic governments and share the same democratic values, human rights, the rule of law, and market economy, Svilanovic said, adding that the solution of existing problems required regional cooperation and cooperation with the international community. "We need regional responses to regional problems. In that sense, the South-East European Cooperation Process should play a very important role and become our common voice as an autochthonous process of regional cooperation," Svilanovic said. He said that the establishment of an informal consultative committee, to include SEECP, Council of Europe, and Stability Pact for South-East Europe officials, would improve the coordination of joint regional bids. Croatia has observer status in the SEECP. SEECP priorities include the improvement of the free trade regime and the situation in the power industry, transport, and telecommunications, the prevention of organised crime, and cooperation in the preservation of the regional cultural and historical heritage, Svilanovic said. "This diversity must never again be exposed to the forces of intolerance. The language of hatred must be condemned and renounced for good," Svilanovic said, adding there would be no progress in the region unless the problem of refugees and displaced persons was solved. (hina) rml