CROATIAN AND ITALIAN PRIME MINISTERS HOLD TALKS IN DUBROVNIK

DUBROVNIK, July 29 (Hina) - The current situation, crucial points in Southeast Europe and the upcoming events, namely a summits scheduled to be held in Zagreb in November, were main topics of Saturday's talks between the Croatian and Italian Prime Ministers, Ivica Racan and Guiliano Amato in the southern Adriatic town of Dubrovnik. Expressing satisfaction about the arrival of the Italian Prime Minister in Croatia and Dubrovnik, Racan said there was an agreement between the two countries on the joint presentation regarding problems in the soutestern European region and certain moves were being agreed on which should help in the solving of problems. Our two countries are very involved in the solving of problems in the region and today we agreed on the situation in the Southeast of Europe and crisis points, namely the problem created by Milosevic's regime in Serbia, Racan said. We agreed that additional efforts needed to be invested in order that potentials of the summit, in relation to problems in the region, be used to the maximum. We also discussed bilateral cooperation. The Italian Prime Minister positively assessed relations between the two countries and advocated the strenghtening of economic cooperation. The Italian Prime Minister announced the visit of Italian businessmen to Croatia in September. According to Amato, the role of Croatia in this part of Europe is very significant, namely Croatia's encouraging neighbourly countries, particularly Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro. When asked about the economic situation in Croatia, Racan told reporters Croatia inherited economic problems from the old Government however, it was successfully dealing with it and was slowly exiting the crisis. He said the help of the European Union was necessary in the solving of consequences of the war and the aggression as well as in the return of displaced persons, while no help was needed in economy, rather cooperation which was of mutual interest. Commenting on the situation in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Racan assessed it could be said that Milosevic was losing the support in Serbia, even though the process was slow. The Italian Prime Minister said the Opposition in Serbia was not strong enough, adding it was important to avoid tensions between Serbia and Montenegro. When asked whether the international community would recognise the results of elections in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Italian Prime Minister said "we will see". (hina) it