DRAFT AGREEMENT ON BORDER WITH SLOVENIA TO BE SENT TO PARLIAMENT

ZAGREB, Sept 6 (Hina) - The Croatian government has proposed that the parliament consider at its September session all the information pertaining to relations between Croatia and Slovenia and the text of a draft agreement on the joint state border before it is possibly signed. The draft agreement has only been initialled, Prime Minister Ivica Racan reminded at a government session on Thursday. The draft will be forwarded into parliamentary procedure immediately after today's session, he added. Racan's first deputy Goran Granic said the parliament was the only place where open questions regarding the draft should be discussed. The draft agreement on the border with Slovenia has been met with strong opposition in Croatia, mostly due to a proposal regarding the division of Piran Bay. The Croatian parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs has postponed its session on the draft scheduled for Friday due to the government's decision. The press had previously announced such a possibility given that the agreement was publicly criticised by the members of some parties of the ruling coalition. Analysts believe that by forwarding the draft into regular parliament procedure Racan wants to win time so that he could step up lobbying in the parliament for the necessary two-thirds majority support for the draft before it is voted on. (hina) sb rml