FOREIGN MIN. PICULA RECEIVES EC MONITORING MISSION CHIEF KELLER

ZAGREB, Oct 10 (Hina) - Croatia's Foreign Minister Tonino Picula on Tuesday received Ambassador Gabriel Yves Keller, chief of the European Community's Monitoring Mission to Croatia, the ministry said in a statement. Picula briefed the ambassador about the initial talks a Croatian envoy recently held in Belgrade with Yugoslavia's new President, Vojislav Kostunica, and the neighbouring country's willingness to apply for access to international organisations. The minister also said that Croatia's good neighbourly relations with Montenegro, especially the creation of conditions necessary to settle the issue of the bordering tip of Prevlaka, offered an opportunity to normalise relations with Yugoslavia's other republic - Serbia. Speaking of November's Zagreb Summit, which should gather officials from the European Union and Southeast Europe, Picula said it was an excellent opportunity to confirm the new policy of the Croatian government, strengthen the process of stabilisation and association with the EU as a framework necessary to attract new candidates, and accentuate the individual approach for the region's states joining the EU. (hina) ha