CROATIA TO ATTEND EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON ANTI-TERRORISM

BRUSSELS, Oct 19 (Hina) - The fight against terrorism will be the main topic of a European conference to be held in Brussels on Saturday at the level of foreign ministers. Croatia is attending the meeting for the first time as a full-right participant. The conference, originally envisaged as a forum for dialogue between EU members and EU candidates in line with the conclusions of last year's EU summit in Nice, was expanded to include the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries and those included in the Stabilisation and Association Process. Due to the importance of the topic, invitations to the conference have also been sent to Russia, Ukraine and Moldavia. The conference will gather 40 countries - 15 EU members, 13 admission candidates (including Turkey), four EFTA members, five participants in the SA Process and three guest-countries. "It will be a strong political manifestation of European unity in the fight against terrorism and Croatia holds the meeting particularly important because it participates in it for the first time. This is a confirmation of EU's new approach to the region included in the SA Process, in line with decisions adopted at the Zagreb Summit," a Croatian diplomatic source in Brussels told Hina. This time, the conference will not be held at the highest level but exceptionally at the level of foreign ministers. Croatia's delegation will be headed by Foreign Minister Tonino Picula. (hina) rml