JOHANNESBURG SUMMIT: AMBASSADOR SAYS CROATIA IS A CONTRIBUTOR

JOHANNESBURG, Sept 1 (Hina) - Croatia wants the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development to succeed and the Croatian delegation is making a constructive contribution to the settlement of the remaining issues, the Croatian Ambassador to the UN, Ivan Simonovic, said in Johannesburg on Sunday. #L# Attending ministers are trying to reach compromises as to the drafts of the final documents of the summit, an action plan and a political declaration, which should be adopted on Monday at the final stage of the event that will pool about 100 presidents of state or prime ministers, including the Croatian head of state Stjepan Mesic. Negotiations held over the past few days are aimed at finding the most acceptable wording for the action plan's articles pertaining to trade and finances, globalisation, renewable sources of energy, good ruling, democracy, biodiversity, etc. The leaders of Greenpeace have said the negotiations have entered the stage of "arm-twisting" and "horse-trading", while one of the leaders of the anti-globalist movement, Vandana Shiva, has labelled the summit a complete failure. Ambassador Simonovic, attending the event as the chairman of the United Nations' Economic and Social Council, is optimistic. He believes the Johannesburg summit will deliver a clear political message in its final declaration, producing a document with mechanisms for the implementation of the summit's goals. According to Simonovic, the key issue for the Johannesburg summit was horizontal and vertical solidarity. Without horizontal solidarity, the one among countries which contributes to the progress of the undeveloped, it cannot be expected that nature will stop deteriorating, he said. Vertical solidarity is the one between generations that is aimed at understanding the development problems of today in order to ensure a preserved environment for future generations, said Simonovic. As for US President George Bush's failure to attend, thus undermining the credibility of the Johannesburg summit, the Croatian ambassador recalled that Bush had attended the UN conference on the financing of development in Monterey last March. Simonovic added, however, that if there was a global alliance against terrorism, there should be one for development as well. (hina) ha