ZAGREB, Sept 9 (Hina) - Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan said on Monday evening he thought he and his Slovene counterpart Janez Drnovsek would meet in Zagreb on Tuesday.
ZAGREB, Sept 9 (Hina) - Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan said on
Monday evening he thought he and his Slovene counterpart Janez
Drnovsek would meet in Zagreb on Tuesday. #L#
The Croatian government last Friday announced that Racan and
Drnovsek would meet to discuss ways of defusing tensions and
redefining starting points in debates on models of settling the sea
border and other open issues.
"Discussions as to how to temporarily resolve some issues are
underway and will be even after the meeting," Racan said.
He spoke to reporters following a meeting of the leaders of the
ruling coalition parties. After the meeting it remained uncertain
if the meeting with Drnovsek would be held.
Racan confirmed that he had spoken to his Slovene counterpart
several times during the day and would during the evening as well.
He did not say, however, if Slovenia contested a transitional
solution to the open issues because it deemed that such a solution
would prejudge the results of international arbitration.
"I cannot give a simple answer to this question," said Racan.
Foreign Minister Tonino Picula, who attended today's meeting, told
reporters he was confident the Racan-Drnovsek meeting would take
place tomorrow.
The president of the Croatian People's Party, Vesna Pusic, said
that negotiations about tomorrow's meeting were still underway and
that the outcome would be known later tonight.
Pusic said that Racan had consulted many people about the meeting
with Drnovsek.
She said that the ruling coalition leaders today debated the
contents of tomorrow's meeting and possible solutions.
Asked if the transitional solution was contentious, according to
which neither Croatian nor Slovene boats would fish in a section of
Piran Bay, Pusic said there were many solutions, and that
Slovenia's should be taken into account.
(hina) ha