AUSTRIA VERY INTERESTED IN PROMOTION OF TIES WITH CROATIA - PICULA

VIENNA, Sept 21 (Hina) - Both the volume and the contents of the schedule of my visit to Vienna reflects how much importance Austria attaches to the development of good ties with Croatia, Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula said in Vienna after the conclusion of his one-day tour to the Austrian capital. Picula added that he was the first foreign minister to have come to Vienna since the European Union had lifted diplomatic sanctions on Austria. On Thursday the Croatian diplomat held talks with Austrian top officials - President Thomas Klestil, Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel, the National Council head Heinz Fischer, and Foreign Minister Benita Ferero-Waldner. Picula and his Austrian counterpart signed an agreement on the double tax avoidance. He and his Austrian hosts discussed bilateral and regional co- operation and relations with the European Union. Picula described 2000 as a very important year for Croatia and Austria in their efforts to win a better position on the international scenes. "As regards Austria this has been proved by the EU decision to revoke sanctions, whereas for Croatia the fact that it will host the 15 EU leaders in two months speaks of the new credibility and international relations which the incumbent Government has managed to build," Picula told Croatian reporters. Picula added that Austria supported Croatia's bids to come closer the EU. He quoted Austrian Chancellor Schuessel as saying that Croatia "is one of most important neighbours" for Austria. The Chancellor also told Picula that his country was willing to give every kind of help, particularly the economic one, to Croatia for its further stabilisation. President Thomas Klestil notified Picula of Austrian experience in the last six months. According to Picula, they agreed that there was much what connected the two countries "in the struggle for their foreign policy identity." Commenting on the decision of Permanent Council of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to discontinue the police segment of its monitoring mission to Croatia, which included the monitoring of local police forces in the Croatian Danube River region in the past four years, Minister Picula said the incumbent Government had promised before the January election that it would normalise relations between Croatia and the world as well as the relation inside the country so that the entire process could go on speedier. "Today's decision of the OSCE Permanent Council confirms that Croatia has succeeded in both objectives. It will positively influence the furtherance of ties between Croatia and the democratic world," Foreign Minister Picula asserted. Asked when the entire mandate of the OSCE mission in Croatia is likely to end, Picula answered that a decision on this matter would probably be discussed by the OSCE Permanent Council at the end of this year, as it was usual. "I believe that the OSCE mandate, in one of another form, would be prolonged at least in the first part of next year," the minister added. Croatia expects that it will manage to solve most problems on the ground by the mid-2001. "In that process we shall receive the help of the international community, and I regard the OSCE mission as very important," he concluded. (hina) ms