CAVTAT, Nov 7 (Hina) - Montenegrin Foreign Minister Branko Lukovac said during a meeting with his Croatian counterpart Tonino Picula Tuesday said Montenegro wished to appear at the Zagreb Summit in late November separately from
Serbia. "We are counting on Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic to be invited to the Summit to express his views on the situation in Montenegro and Serbia," Lukovac told reporters after the meeting. Picula said the organisers of the Summit would try to find a solution to invite Montenegro to the Zagreb Summit so it could be adequately represented. He stressed the Summit would be a first-class political event which would represent a crown to the Croatian Government's political efforts to achieve positive recognition and an active role in the region in 2000. The meeting between Lukovac and Picula is a continuation of talks between the two foreign ministers on the situation of
CAVTAT, Nov 7 (Hina) - Montenegrin Foreign Minister Branko Lukovac
said during a meeting with his Croatian counterpart Tonino Picula
Tuesday said Montenegro wished to appear at the Zagreb Summit in
late November separately from Serbia.
"We are counting on Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic to be
invited to the Summit to express his views on the situation in
Montenegro and Serbia," Lukovac told reporters after the meeting.
Picula said the organisers of the Summit would try to find a
solution to invite Montenegro to the Zagreb Summit so it could be
adequately represented. He stressed the Summit would be a first-
class political event which would represent a crown to the Croatian
Government's political efforts to achieve positive recognition and
an active role in the region in 2000.
The meeting between Lukovac and Picula is a continuation of talks
between the two foreign ministers on the situation of bilateral
relations after their meeting in Podgorica this July.
After the meeting Picula said the talks had focused on several
important subjects, and the two ministers had tried to establish to
which extent conclusions agreed on in Podgorica had been
fulfilled.
Most conclusions have been solved or are near a solution, and what
has been failed to be solved is a consequence of a context in which
the talks between the two countries are being held.
The two foreign ministers also spoke about the situation in
Yugoslavia.
Picula assessed that relations between Zagreb and Podgorica
partially depended on the relations between Podgorica and
Belgrade.
"In any case we are interested that the development of relations in
Yugoslavia are carried out in the sense of finding an optimal and
sustainable solution which would stabilise the political situation
in the area in the long run, an Croatia cannot not be interested in
the political processes in Yugoslavia", Picula stressed.
Especially encouraging are the meeting of business people who
recognised the possibilities of cooperation, and there are
indications that Croatian companies could soon start business in
Montenegro.
Assessing that progress had been achieved in relations between
Zagreb and Podgorica, Lukovac announced a continuation of
cooperation within the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe, and
stressed that the talks had also focused on the border crossing in
Debeli Brijeg as a joint project the two countries had submitted as
projects at the Stability Pact.
Speaking about the stance of Montenegrin authorities on Croatia's
southernmost peninsula of Prevlaka, Lukovac said complete
readiness had been expressed for the two countries to cooperate in
creating conditions so Prevlaka could become an area of
understanding, that is, an area for the promotion of overall
development, and we do not see a reason for the peninsula to be a
stumbling block between Montenegro and Croatia.
During his visit to Cavtat (south Adriatic), Tonino Picula also
held talks with the chairman of the association for the protection
of property rights on Prevlaka, Ivo Braticevic, during which he
stressed that the Croatian Government supported the association's
requests for the restitution of property, and believed the issue
would soon be resolved.
(hina) lml