PICULA COMMENTS ON CROATIAN-SLOVENE RELATIONS

LJUBLJANA, Jan 22 (Hina) - The Croatian government has a unanimous stand as regards relations with Slovenia, Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula told the latest issue of the Slovene weekly 'Mladina'. The foreign minister reiterated the government's stand that open issues should be resolved by going from easier to more difficult ones, discussing problems first on the level of experts and then on the political level, and by solving one problem at a time. Asked about the problem of the sea border, Picula said he was aware of the emotions burdening the issue of Piran Bay, and added Croatia wanted to reach a solution through negotiations "in good faith", respecting the international law. "Future membership in the European Union obliges one in advance to respect standards and international legal norms. Both governments answer to people who elected them and who expect solutions rather than delaying, underestimating or deepening problems," Picula told the weekly. Asked about the problem of deposits at the Ljubljanska Banka, Picula said that upon leaving the system of socialist self- government both countries had pledged to respect private property as one of the basic rights. "We believe that depositors' money on their bank accounts is their property, especially as regards the so-called non-transferrable savings. The commitment taken over by the then Croatian government to forward this stand to the International Monetary Fund will be carried out by the incumbent government," Picula said. He opposed the organisation of frequent political meetings, adding meetings should not be held only for the sake of organising meetings but rather be organised as working meetings and result in concrete political or economic results. "The sooner we realise that, the sooner will we get rid of questions which are not a good basis for talks. And those questions most often relate to the past," Picula said. (hina) rml