PRESIDENT MESIC MEETS NATO PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT

ZAGREB, March 21 (Hina) - Croatia is in an excellent position to pave the way for other countries in the region, the President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Rafael Estrella, told reporters after meeting Croatian President Stjepan Mesic in Zagreb on Wednesday. Estrella said that he was aware that many problems were not resolved yet but it was important that conditions were being created to resolve them. He expressed readiness to call on NATO and EU countries, in his capacity as NATO Parliamentary Assembly President, to pledge their assistance to countries in the region in resolving problems and help them access European organisations. The NATO official welcomed Croatia's aspirations to join Euro- Atlantic political, economic and security associations and its wish to contribute to regional peace and stability. In that regard, he recalled the importance of complying with some conditions which did not refer only to Croatia, but a number of countries in the region, including the implementation of the Dayton agreement, refugee return and cooperation with the Hague-based war crimes tribunal. Estrella, who is on a visit to Croatia between March 20 and 26, will this evening leave for Dubrovnik, where he will attend a seminar on regional stability, which will gather parliamentary representatives from NATO member-countries, parliamentarians from the Central and East European and Baltic countries (including Croatia) which have the status of associate members of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and representatives from the parliaments of South-East European countries. (hina) rml