REACTIONS TO CROATIA-EU STABILISATION, ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT-PART 3

ZAGREB, Oct 30 (Hina) - A senior Social Democratic Party (SDP) official said on Tuesday the Agreement on Stabilisation and Association (SAA) Croatia signed with the European Union yesterday "does not prejudge anything - Croatia is not transferring the smallest bit of its sovereignty to the EU with the SAA and can even cancel it, should it consider it contrary to its interests." By signing the Agreement, Croatia has become an associate EU member and made the first step towards full membership, a vice-chairman of the SDP Central Committee, Zdenko Franic, told a news conference on Tuesday. The SAA and a joint Croatia-EU declaration on political dialogue confirm the individual approach in the process of Croatia's joining the EU, he said. The SDP official dismissed the criticism by the Opposition's Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) that the SAA is a step in the direction of the Balkans as completely unfounded. Democratic Centre (DC) vice-president Vesna Skare Ozbolt said the process of drawing closer to the EU required the establishment of a mechanism which would enable the parliament to control the government in the implementation of the SAA. "This will be possible only if the parliament adopts DC's bill on the SAA," she said at a news conference in Karlovac. The DC believes the parliament should supervise bilateral agreements Croatia has to sign, especially those with its neighbours, so that it could prevent the country's becoming part of a Balkan union some day. Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) leader Anto Djapic said Prime Minister Ivica Racan's government had made a hasty move by signing another agreement which would eventually prove to be detrimental to Croatia's independence. (hina) it