MOTION FOR RATIFICATION OF KRSKO DEAL ADDED TO SABOR'S AGENDA

ZAGREB, June 27 (Hina) - The Croatian parliament on Thursday morning added the item of the ratification of a Croatian-Slovenian agreement on the Krsko nuclear power plant to its agenda, after a majority of MPs voted for the motion. #L# Deputies of opposition parties - HDZ, HSP and HKDU - voted against the inclusion of the item in the agenda. The HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) is against the agreement because of its contentious provisions which bring Croatia into unfavourable position regarding its co-ownership over the plant in the Slovenian town, the HDZ bench explained. The HSP (Croatian Party of Rights) voted against the motion, as this party already lodged a complaint with the Constitutional Court asking it to consider whether the document is compatible with Croatia's law on ionised radiation which prohibits the storage of radioactive waste produced outside Croatia. The HSP believes that the Sabor should wait for the Court's ruling before it discusses its ratification. MPs are to discuss the ratification on Friday. The agreement, which was signed at the end of 2001 by the two governments' officials, should be ratified by the two countries' parliaments by July 1. Croatia's ruling five-party coalition did not reach the unanimous stand on the issue after Wednesday's seven-hour-long meeting. All ruling parties except Croatian Social Liberals (HSLS) concluded their deputies would vote for the ratification. There must be 76 votes in the favour for the ratification by the Sabor. On Thursday morning, the parliament accepted a report on the settlement of problems of a surplus of police officers. It asked the government to probe allegations about irregularities in the Interior Ministry during the decision-making on the firing of some policemen. The parliament adopted a report on the execution of the 2001 state budget. (hina) ms