SVETA GERA SVETA GERA, July 23 (Hina) - Croatian President Stipe Mesic on Sunday visited Sveta Gera, near the border with Slovenia, where he attended mass and a church fete on the occasion of the holiday of Saint Elias. During the
event, Mesic met numerous Croatian and Slovene pilgrims. Father Tomislav Duka and the head of the Eastern-Rite Church, Zivko Kustic, gave sermons. President Mesic told reporters he believed today's gathering at Sveta Gera would help the Croatian and Slovene commissions on borders to harmonise their views and find a solution. There are no territorial disputes but rather some "misunderstandings of technical nature" between Croatia and Slovenia, Mesic said, adding the two commissions would successfully solve those misunderstandings. Speaking about Piran Bay, Mesic said Croatia wanted to keep the border with Italy, whereas Slovenia wanted access to the open sea. With good faith, both problems can be solved,
SVETA GERA, July 23 (Hina) - Croatian President Stipe Mesic on
Sunday visited Sveta Gera, near the border with Slovenia, where he
attended mass and a church fete on the occasion of the holiday of
Saint Elias. During the event, Mesic met numerous Croatian and
Slovene pilgrims.
Father Tomislav Duka and the head of the Eastern-Rite Church, Zivko
Kustic, gave sermons.
President Mesic told reporters he believed today's gathering at
Sveta Gera would help the Croatian and Slovene commissions on
borders to harmonise their views and find a solution.
There are no territorial disputes but rather some
"misunderstandings of technical nature" between Croatia and
Slovenia, Mesic said, adding the two commissions would
successfully solve those misunderstandings.
Speaking about Piran Bay, Mesic said Croatia wanted to keep the
border with Italy, whereas Slovenia wanted access to the open sea.
With good faith, both problems can be solved, he said.
Speaking about Croatia's southernmost peninsula of Prevlaka,
bordering with Montenegro, Mesic said it was not a territorial but a
security issue, which should be dealt with as such.
"We will soon establish security and the functioning of the law-
based state there as well," Mesic said.
Commenting on the latest claims in the press that the Hague war
crimes tribunal would issue indictments against Croatian generals,
Mesic said that "no Croatian general will go the Hague any more" and
"only those who are really guilty" would answer. It is necessary for
Croatian courts to process all cases and there will be no need for
the Hague tribunal at all, he said.
Asked about the visit of a Serbian-American businessman and former
Yugoslav premier, Milan Panic, to Zagreb, whom he will meet
tomorrow, Mesic said Panic would arrive for a business visit to
Croatia at his own request. It should be concluded from this that
Serbs living outside Serbia must be a bridge of cooperation between
their mother country and neighbouring nations and not be used as a
pretext for conquering the territories of other nations, Mesic
said, adding Panic would make the same statement tomorrow.
(hina) rml