ZAGREB, Oct 9 (Hina) - Croatian Premier Ivica Racan on Wednesday met a delegation of representatives of international institutions in Croatia, led by the OSCE mission's chief in Croatia, Petar Semneby.
ZAGREB, Oct 9 (Hina) - Croatian Premier Ivica Racan on Wednesday met
a delegation of representatives of international institutions in
Croatia, led by the OSCE mission's chief in Croatia, Petar Semneby.
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According to a statement released by the government's public
relations office, international representatives wanted to express
their support to the efforts the Croatian government had to date
made in the progress and to show the interest in the joint
engagement in the accomplishment of Croatia's strategic objective
- its admission into the European Union and NATO.
Commenting on the indictment which the UN tribunal issued against
General Janko Bobetko, the international institutions' officials
voiced their understanding of the gravity of the situation and
reiterated that it was expected of Croatia to honour all its
international commitments, particularly the tribunal's
decisions.
Premier Racan expressed satisfaction with cooperation which Zagreb
had with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia (ICTY). He said his cabinet would persist in its stand on
the cooperation with the ICTY. In a bid to solve all the issues
including the Bobetko indictment, the government will use all the
legal instruments at its disposal, the statement read.
The meeting between Racan and the international officials mostly
revolved around the issues in relation to the refugee returns, a
constitutional bill on national minorities, and reforms in the
judiciary and media.
The international representatives pointed to some problems which
cropped up in the attempts to settle such issues, and voiced wish
for better cooperation in those bids.
The premier informed the international officials of the situation
in all the above-mentioned fields, and reiterated the government's
wish to settle the problems as soon as possible.
He notified the delegation of the problems the government was
facing when trying to solve the issue of refugee returns. He also
spoke about the reasons for the postponement of the adoption of the
constitutional law on national minorities.
The premier pointed to the importance of the reform in the
judiciary, given that the outcome of the reform would affect the
said issues and the entire economic development.
In the context of the reform in the media, he announced a new law on
media freedom and on the Croatian Radio and Television.
The guests thanked Racan for the exhaustive explanations of the
situation, and said they were confident that they would continue
and enhance their cooperation.
Government officials said they were open for all suggestions aimed
at the settlement of these issues which were of the key importance
for Croatia, and proposed new meetings for this purpose.
The delegation of the international representatives consisted of
Kishore Mandhyan, the head of the mission of the UN Liaison Office,
Lawrence Rossin, the American Ambassador to Zagreb, Jacques
Wundenburger, the head of the European Commission's delegation,
Dimitris Vidouris, the Greek Ambassador to Zagreb, Oluseyi
Bajulaiye, the head of the UNHCR mission.
(hina) ms sb