USA LOOKS FORWARD TO COOPERATING WITH NEW CROATIAN GOVT: VOA

WASHINGTON, Jan 7 (Hina) - The convincing defeat of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) in the recent parliamentary elections in Croatia "indicates the profound dissatisfaction of Croatians with the difficult economic situation and political isolation", Voice of America radio said on Friday in a programme broadcast in Croatian. The programme broadcast a text relaying the stances of the American Government. By rule, the texts are drawn up in political departments of the State Department, and the VOA is obligated to broadcast them by law. "The previous Croatian Government did not respect human rights and did not cooperate with the international war crimes tribunal. As a result, Croatia was refused access to European Union resources, entrance into NATO's Partnership for Peace programme, and even initial talks on the membership in the European Union were severed," the text said, adding "the electoral victory of the opposition could help in ceasing Croatia's international isolation". "The United States are looking forward to cooperating with the new Croatian Government to Croatia's integration into the Euro- Atlantic community could be speeded up," the text concluded. (hina) lml mm