CRO AND SLOVENE TOWNS IN MURA VALLEY SIGN COOPERATION AGREEMENT

SVETI MARTIN NA MURI, Sept 24 (Hina) - An agreement on cross-border cooperation between neighbouring Croatian and Slovenian municipalities and towns was signed on Sunday on Croatian territory on the left bank of the Mura River. The deal regulates cooperation in economy, culture, tourism, sports, hunting and fishing. The document was signed by mayors of Slovenian municipalities - Lendava and Crensovci - and Croatian municipalities - Sveti Martin Na Muri and Poturen - and the town of Mursko Sredisce. Present at the ceremony of signing were the two countries' officials and politicians. One of them, the Croatian national parliament's deputy speaker, Zdravko Tomac, described the agreement "as a kind of pressure exerted on Croatian and Slovenian top authorities to harmonise their views and settle open issues between the two countries." Tomac called on Slovenians to continue supporting Croatia's bids to enter the European Union and not to apply the Schengen border regime on Croatian nationals. At the ceremony a letter of Slovenian President Milan Kucan was read out. Kucan wrote that the agreement presented "an important contribution to the arrangement of life and cooperation of people who live in the Mura River valley." "A special value of this agreement is the fact that it has stemmed from life, the interest of neighbours and the joint wish to promote the ties," Kucan's letter read. Kucan expressed hope that the ratification of a bilateral agreement on the cross-border trade and cooperation with Croatia would ensue after the election in Slovenia. (hina) ms