CRO AMBASSADOR TO US COMMENTS ON BUSH-MESIC MEETING

SPLIT, Nov 9 (Hina) - The meeting between Croatian and American presidents Stjepan Mesic and George W. Bush scheduled to take place in New York on Saturday, "is an award to the Croatian government for its painstaking revival of democracy," the Croatian Ambassador in Washington, Ivan Grdesic, said in an interview for Slobodna Dalmacija daily on Friday. The Bush-Mesic meeting, which will also be attended by America's most senior foreign affairs officials, is of multiple significance, primarily as an expression of excellent relations between the United States and Croatia, Grdesic said. In the new global circumstances and the dramatically changed priorities of the US foreign policy, the readiness to invite Croatian top officials to the meeting expresses not only recognition of Croatia, but is also a clear message that America has not forgotten countries not in the near proximity of the new conflict, the ambassador said. President Mesic on Friday afternoon left for the United States where he will participate at the 56th session of the UN General Assembly, and hold talks with President Bush at the UN centre in New York. (hina) lml