SLOVENE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES ON RELATIONS WITH CROATIA

LJUBLJANA, Sept 8 (Hina) - The majority of candidates for the new president of Slovenia is not in favour of the way of solving a dispute with Croatia advocated by incumbent Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek and even less in favour of arbitration as a possible way out of the current Croatian-Slovene border crisis in Piran Bay. #L# Slovenia's television on Sunday broadcast the opinions of the presidential candidates who stand best chances at the forthcoming election about relations with Croatia. The only candidate who accepts Drnovsek's "Croatian policy" is Lev Kreft of the Joined Social Democrats' List (ZLSD), who also supports the initialled Drnovsek-Racan agreement. Opposition's candidate Barbara Brezigar claims that instead of arbitration the two countries should insist on a bilateral agreement on open issues. A former governor of the Slovenian Central Bank, France Arhae, who is supported by the Slovene People's Party (SLS), believes that relations with Croatia should be solved in a package. Former diplomat Anton Bebler, candidate of the democratic party of pensioners Desus, said that relations with Croatia should be solved in a "wider European" context. The "most original" was the president of the Slovene National Party Zmago Jelincic. He advocated a "peace conference" in Belgrade. Slovene Television re-aired Drnovsek's statement under which possible arbitration on the border issue with Croatia would consider the initialled agreement "as an important element in the process". (hina) it