ZAGREB, Dec 4 (Hina) - Croatia and Yugoslavia could soon conclude a protocol on the temporary regime on Prevlaka, Croatian Ambassador Josko Paro said in Zagreb on Wednesday.
ZAGREB, Dec 4 (Hina) - Croatia and Yugoslavia could soon conclude a
protocol on the temporary regime on Prevlaka, Croatian Ambassador
Josko Paro said in Zagreb on Wednesday. #L#
The two countries' officials on Tuesday held a meeting in Zagreb at
which they "reached the highest level of agreement so far" on the
regime, Paro told Hina.
Paro is Croatia's new ambassador to Great Britain. Before his
latest appointment he was an assistant to the Foreign Minister in
charge of European bilateral issues, which also included relations
with Belgrade.
Paro would not say which issues the two sides left for the last stage
of negotiations.
Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula will meet his Yugoslav
counterpart Goran Svilanovic at a ministerial meeting of the
Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in
Portugal by the end of this week, when the remaining open issues as
well as the date and place of the signing ceremony could be
established.
The protocol on the temporary regime should be signed by the end of
the mandate of the UN mission of observers on Prevlaka, which
expires on December 15. The purpose of the protocol is to bridge the
period until the two sides reach a final agreement on the sea
border.
After they take over control of the peninsula, the two countries
will carry out demilitarisation, build a road that will turn the
border crossing of Konfin into an international border crossing and
facilitate the commercialisation of Prevlaka.
The Croatian and Yugoslav media have recently reported that the
remaining contentious issues refer to the temporary regime on the
sea, from fishing to the regulation of traffic in Kotor Bay (Boka
Kotorska), while some media also mentioned the issue of "ownership"
of the Mamula islet at the entrance to the bay.
(hina) rml sb