TRIESTE: FRIENDSHIP AGREEMENT'S SHADOW HANGING OVER ZAGREB, ROME

TRIESTE, Nov 23 (Hina) - Many eyes at the two-day meeting of the Central European Initiative (CEI) in Trieste were looking at the schedules of the Italian and Croatian delegations to find a bilateral meeting on a friendship and cooperation agreement, which the two countries have not signed yet, says the Trieste-based paper Il Piccolo in an article headlined "The Shadow of the Agreement Over Zagreb and Rome". An under-secretary at the Italian Foreign Ministry, Roberto Antonioni, was adamant last week that the two countries' foreign and prime ministers would not meet in Trieste. Foreign Ministers Renato Ruggiero and Tonino Picula did not meet officially on Thursday but they were seen talking eye-to-eye for several minutes, probably not discussing the weather or the menu, the paper says. It also reports that the two ministers, after a joint meeting of 15 foreign ministers of CEI member-countries, said there were no major obstacles to signing the friendship agreement, and adds the only disputable issue is compensation for Italian WWII refugees from Croatia. It is possible the agreement will be discussed further on Friday, when Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan meets his Italian counterpart Silvio Berlusconi, a meeting the Croatian side has been insisting on, Il Piccolo says. The foreign ministers of CEI member-countries met on Thursday while the premiers are expected to meet today to discuss the fight against terrorism, the situation in the region, and European integration. (hina) rml