ZAGREB, Aug 27 (Hina) - Prime Minister Ivica Racan on Tuesday stated that there was no need to officially back out of the initialled agreement on the border with Slovenia.
ZAGREB, Aug 27 (Hina) - Prime Minister Ivica Racan on Tuesday stated
that there was no need to officially back out of the initialled
agreement on the border with Slovenia. #L#
"The initialled agreement has no formal effect, so there is no need
to formally give it up either," Racan told journalists.
He noted that the agreement had not been signed by the prime
ministers of the two countries, but by representatives of the
countries' working groups on borders, with the approval of the two
premiers. This was to have been followed by the signing of the
agreement by both governments and its being forwarded to the two
parliaments for ratification. However, this did not happen. The
Croatian government did not sign the agreement because of lack of
consensus on the matter in the country, Racan said.
Commenting on demands that the agreement be cancelled, Racan said
that perhaps (Mate) "Granic should request that the agreement he
signed be revoked. We cannot back out of that agreement and yet it
allows Slovene fisherman to fish in the waters virtually as far as
Vrsar," he said.
Racan believes that the Croatian and Slovene governments had to
offer a way out of the current situation and announced that he would
meet Slovene Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek very soon.
Racan dismissed as absurd comments by the head of the Slovene
parliamentary committee on intelligence services that Croatia was
attempting to destabilise Slovenia.
"That is absurd. This is just another in a series of accusations
that are not good for either country," Racan concluded.
(hina) sp rml sb