LS CALLS ON GOVT TO GIVE UP ON BORDER AGREEMENT WITH SLOVENIA

PULA, Aug 31 (Hina) - The government should give up on the border agreement initialled by Croatian and Slovene prime ministers, and officially inform Ljubljana about it, The Liberal Party's (LS) secretary-general, Helena Stimac Radin said on Saturday. #L# While Croatian officials keep reiterating that initials carry no legal weight, Slovene politicians are using them as an argument, while the Slovene government is very much counting on the agreement, Radin said. Commenting on the opposition's requests that Prime Minister Ivica Racan submit his resignation, Radin said the LS supported the government because additional tensions in political relations and Croatia's political destabilisation to not benefit the country and its citizens. She stressed her party expected the foreign ministry to undertake a more active role in protecting Croatia's national interests. The conflict is escalating, so the LS is expressing its concern that local fishermen and citizens could take matters into their own hands, and calls on governmental institutions to protect the local population and fishermen, Radin said. (hina) lml sb