PORTO, Dec 6 (Hina) - Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia have concluded negotiations on a temporary regime for the Prevlaka peninsula and expect a protocol on the issue to be signed early next week, Croatian and Yugoslav
Foreign Ministers Tonino Picula and Goran Svilanovic said in a joint statement to the press on Friday. The two ministers met on the margins of the first day of a ministerial meeting of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Portugal's Porto.
PORTO, Dec 6 (Hina) - Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
have concluded negotiations on a temporary regime for the Prevlaka
peninsula and expect a protocol on the issue to be signed early next
week, Croatian and Yugoslav Foreign Ministers Tonino Picula and
Goran Svilanovic said in a joint statement to the press on Friday.
The two ministers met on the margins of the first day of a
ministerial meeting of the Organisation for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Portugal's Porto. #L#
"I would like to inform you that negotiations on the Prevlaka
Protocol are concluded to the satisfaction of both governments,"
Svilanovic told reporters and added the Yugoslav government would
later today officially confirm that the agreement had been reached.
The Croatian government on Thursday confirmed the agreement had
been reached.
"We have indeed concluded a chapter in our relations and provided an
opportunity for the protocol to improve living conditions of people
living in the region," Minister Picula said.
Reaching the agreement on the protocol is a reflection of a
different political atmosphere between the two countries, Picula
said and pointed to the support of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
to both countries.
The protocol is not a secret document and its content will be
available to the public immediately after the signing next week,
most probably December 10, Svilanovic said.
Picula announced a permanent agreement could be reached faster than
expected, should the two countries continue to cooperate.
Regardless of how temporary it is, the protocol should be
interpreted as a great contribution to the overall development of
relations between Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia, Picula said and
added that the agreement "is only one episode on the path towards
the normalisation and organisation of the two countries'
relations".
Responding to a question whether he expected problems in the
implementation of the protocol, Svilanovic said that the key issue
was mutual mistrust among the two countries' citizens. He ,
however, said this would be solved in the forthcoming years.
(hina) it sb