ZAGREB, July 30 (Hina) - German Foreign Ministry state minister Christoph Zopel was received on Monday by two Croatian deputy parliamentary speakers, Mato Arlovic and Zdravko Tomac. Arlovic, who is also chairman of the bench of the
ruling coalition's Social Democrats (SDP), addressed a recently initialled Croatia-Slovenia border agreement, saying it proved to Europe that even the most complex issues could be settled through agreement. Arlovic said there might, however, be difficulties in the ratification of the document as part of the public thought it cost Croatia too much. Arlovic said Croatia's foremost issue at present was the relationship with UN's war crimes tribunal at The Hague. Commenting on the latest indictments against two Croatian generals, Rahim Ademi and Ante Gotovina, Arlovic said the way they were written might create an atmosphere in which the Croatian state was collectively responsible
ZAGREB, July 30 (Hina) - German Foreign Ministry state minister
Christoph Zopel was received on Monday by two Croatian deputy
parliamentary speakers, Mato Arlovic and Zdravko Tomac.
Arlovic, who is also chairman of the bench of the ruling coalition's
Social Democrats (SDP), addressed a recently initialled Croatia-
Slovenia border agreement, saying it proved to Europe that even the
most complex issues could be settled through agreement. Arlovic
said there might, however, be difficulties in the ratification of
the document as part of the public thought it cost Croatia too
much.
Arlovic said Croatia's foremost issue at present was the
relationship with UN's war crimes tribunal at The Hague. Commenting
on the latest indictments against two Croatian generals, Rahim
Ademi and Ante Gotovina, Arlovic said the way they were written
might create an atmosphere in which the Croatian state was
collectively responsible.
Tomac, chairman of parliament's foreign affairs committee, also
addressed the indictments, telling Zopel the early 1990s Homeland
Defence War did not represent planned ethnic cleansing and that
Croatia's military leadership could not be equated with former
Yugoslav head of state Slobodan Milosevic and his policy.
Tomac said Croatia's future considerably depended on the Hague
tribunal's attitude towards it, as a state accused of crimes did not
have a place in Europe.
Tomac told Zopel Croatia's path towards the European Union and NATO
was proceeding according to expectations. As for relations with
countries of the former Yugoslav federation, he said Croatia wanted
to settle them on a bilateral level and not through a union.
Commenting on the future of the Balkans, Tomac said the break-up of
the ex-Yugoslavia needed to be completed and that Bosnia-
Herzegovina must remain integral.
(hina) ha