RACAN: GOVT IS READY FOR DIALOGUE WITH CHURCH

ZAGREB, Nov 12 (Hina) - Prime Minister Ivica Racan on Monday expressed regret over public statements exchanged recently between the Government and the Croatian Bishops' Conference, saying the Government had been ready for dialogue about open issues before the Church's latest statement and still was. "I think the Bishops' Conference statement (on the social situation in the country) was not very fortunate and I agree that our response did not contribute to the dialogue either," Racan told Croatian Radio. The government and I personally are ready for the continuation of the dialogue, Racan said, adding the public debate diminished the prospects for dialogue. Prime Minister Racan said some unpleasant tones in the government statement were a reaction to some unpleasant and unfounded estimates from the bishops' statement. Asked if this had strained relations between the Church and the Government, Racan said he hoped both sides would draw lessons from the public debate, which he described as not very fortunate. One needs to return to dialogue, he added. The government has been fulfilling its obligations towards the Church, including those from its agreement with the Holy See, he said. However, he refused to give a direct answer to claims that the state has been transferring to the Church 350 million kuna of budgetary funds annually. The Prime Minister did not want to comment on Parliament Speaker Zlatko Tomcic's distancing himself as Croatian Peasants Party president from the government's statement on the bishops' message. He said he would wait for the ruling coalition's meeting on Wednesday before he made any statement on that. Commenting on Tomcic's objection that the government had not discussed its statement before issuing it, Racan said no government decided or voted about its statements and wondered why the Croatian government should do it. However, he admitted that the stand of the Bishops' Conference had been discussed "at an informal (government) meeting" and that the government's response was read out at the meeting. Speaking about general Gotovina, who has been indicted for war crimes by the Hague tribunal, Racan dismissed "insinuations" that the government had been in contact with Gotovina and made it possible for him to leave the country. I hope the Hague tribunal will not believe this and that this won't affect our cooperation, but if that happens, it will only be to our detriment, he said. (hina) rml