SABOR DELEGATION ENDS TALKS IN BRUSSELS

BRUSSELS, April 4 (Hina) - A two-day meeting of a delegation of the Croatian National Parliament and the European Parliament's permanent delegation for relations with southeastern European countries finished in Brussels on Tuesday when the heads of the two delegation issued a joint statement. The statement applauds reform-minded efforts of the new Croatia Governments and conveys expectations that those bids will be actively supported by the European Commission which should complete a feasibility study, by the end of the coming summer, on negotiations with Croatia on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. According to the statement released by the European Parliament's delegation head, Doris Pack, and the head of the Sabor's subcommittee for relations with the European Union, Ivo Skrabalo, they addressed all three main topics in the inter-parliamentary talks in Brussels: the political and economic situation in Croatia, the EU-Croatian ties and the situation in the region. Both parties got a positive impression, Skrabalo told Hina. He added that the two-day talks tackled almost all issues relating to Croatia's bids to come closer to the European Union.- We also talked about what they were expecting from us and what we were expecting from them, Skrabalo said. We received assurances that the European Commission would draft the feasibility study by the end of June and this means that negotiations with Croatia on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement can be opened in September. The Croatian delegation consisted of Petar Turcinovic (Istrian Democratic Alliance or IDS), Zdravka Busic (Croatian Democratic Union or HDZ), Anto Djapic (Croatian Party of Rights or HSP), Tibor Santo (minorities) and Zdravko Tomac (Social Democratic Party or SDP), besides Skrabalo (Croatian Social Liberal Party or HSLS). (hina) ms