NATO REPS HOLD MEETING WITH SABOR'S INTERNAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

ZAGREB, April 10 (Hina) - Following Croatia's accession into the NATO Parliamentary Assembly as an observer I hope that cooperation will be soon promoted to a higher level, said Javier Ruperez at his meeting with the Sabor's internal affairs and national security committee in Zagreb on Monday. I hope that now the a delegation of the Croatian National Parliament will take more active part in the work of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, said Ruperez, the chairman of that Parliamentary Assembly. Present at the meeting was also the Assembly's Secretary-General Simon Lunn who said NATO had recently assessed the situation in Croatia and marked it positively. Lunn added that it was a first step for admission into the Partnership for Peace. On behalf of the Sabor's committee, Milan Bandic (of the Social Democratic Party, or SDP) said Croatia had no other alternative but entrance in NATO and the EU. "We are all unanimous in the Sabor about that objective. There will be problems but we hope we shall overcome them," Bandic said. Commenting on political changes in Croatia, Ruuperez said they had brought relief and hope and had taken Croatia on the path toward democratisation. Thus, Croatia has become a stability factor in the region, the NATO official added. Ruperez said Europe and NATO would help Croatia on this difficult path and expressed hope that Zagreb would continue making progress in this direction. (hina) ms