FISHING REGIME WITH CROATIA PUT ON SLOVENE GOVERNMENT AGENDA

LJUBLJANA, Sept 19 (Hina) - The Slovene government has included on the agenda of Thursday's session the implementation of the part of the Croatia-Slovenia deal on local border cooperation referring to commercial fishing, official sources in Ljubljana told the STA news agency. #L# The debate will focus on a temporary fishing regime in Piran Bay agreed on by the two countries' prime ministers last week. The Slovene media say today that agreement has prevented fishing incidents in the border bay in the northern Adriatic from continuing. In today's editorial, the Maribor-based "Vecer" says that for Croatian PM Ivica Racan the agreement is a very delicate issue due to reactions by the parliamentary opposition, whereas Slovenia sees it as "the minimum of good will" in a situation when Croatia's official policy, "due to internal rifts and strong feelings", is unwilling to reach a "sound border agreement" with Slovenia, even though it would expedite its exit from the "Balkan package". "Croatia's path to the West and under the wing of the European Union leads across Slovenia, not only in the transport but the cultural and the symbolic sense as well," Zarko Rojc said in the "Vecer" editorial. (hina) ha sb