CROATIAN GOVT DELEGATION ENDS VISIT TO PRAGUE

PRAGUE, June 12 (Hina) - A Croatian government delegation, headed by Prime Minister Ivica Racan, ended their one-day official visit to Prague on Monday afternoon. The delegation included Deputy Prime Minister Zeljka Antunovic, Foreign Minister Tonino Picula, Tourism Minister Pave Zupan Ruskovic, and Deputy Economy Minister Neven Mimica. Minister Zupan Ruskovic met Peter Lachnit, the Czech Minister of Regional Development, also covering the tourism sector. The two officials discussed visits by Czech tourists to Croatia and problems they were encountering, Croatian Government spokeswoman Aleksandra Kolaric said. The two ministers discussed the establishment of a coordination committee which would deal exclusively with those problems. Deputy Prime Minister Zeljka Antunovic met her counterpart, Czech Deputy Prime Minister and Labour Minister, Vladimir Spigl. The two officials agreed in principle on an agreement on social insurance, enabling each side to pay social insurance for their tourists visiting the other country, as well as on issuing working visas for Czech nationals, Kolaric said. Deputy Economy Minister Mimica and the Czech Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Jiri Mateska, agreed that Croatian and Czech groups negotiating a free trade agreement should hold a meeting as soon as possible. (hina) mm rml