CROATIA, SLOVENIA UNIFIED IN UNREALITY OF BALKAN ASSOCIATIONS VIEW

BLED, Oct 26 (Hina) - Croatia is ready for regional cooperation via a network of bilateral free trade agreements, but resolutely opposes unrealistic associations in the Balkans, Croatian European Integration Minister Neven Mimica said in Bled on Friday at a conference on preparations of Central and Eastern European countries for membership in the EU. "Regional cooperation will be dictated by the stabilisation agreement between Croatia and the EU as well, but ideas on the establishment of an economy zone in the region or a customs union for the Balkans are unrealistic," Mimica said. He spoke with his Slovene counterpart Igor Bavcar about a future Croatian-Slovene "strategic partnership" in the exchange of experiences on the two countries' paths to the European Union. Opening the conference on Thursday, Slovene Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek said Croatia should become the first new member of the Central European Free Trade Agreement in the region, as the CEFTA can become a preparation for countries in the region about to enter the EU. He stressed ideas about a Balkan customs union were unrealistic because of the decade of conflicts in the Balkans and the differences of the countries in the region. (hina) lml sb