ZAGREB SUMMIT OPPORTUNITY FOR CROATIA'S AFFIRMATION ZAGREB, Nov 22 (Hina) - The Nov. 24 Zagreb Summit is an opportunity for the affirmation of independent, democratic and European Croatia which its representatives at the conference
will know how to use, Prime Minister Ivica Racan said on Wednesday.
ZAGREB, Nov 22 (Hina) - The Nov. 24 Zagreb Summit is an opportunity
for the affirmation of independent, democratic and European
Croatia which its representatives at the conference will know how
to use, Prime Minister Ivica Racan said on Wednesday.#L#
"At the summit of European statesmen we shall know how to affirm the
policy of independent and democratic Croatia, we shall know how to
outline our basic viewpoint - yes to cooperation with all, but with
an individual fate and road to the European Union for Croatia,"
Racan told a news conference. "On Friday, Zagreb will be Europe's
political and media centre," he added.
Speaking about a draft Summit declaration, he said "it's evident
that the approach to each country of the region is individual...
Croatia could not really consent to anything else."
"By welcoming European statesmen I believe that all together we
shall show and realise the interest of the huge majority of the
Croatian population - to be in Europe as fast and as best as
possible, where we believe we belong," said the prime minister.
He reminded a very important thing would happen for Croatia at the
Summit, the beginning of negotiations with the EU on a
Stabilisation and Association Agreement, planned to wrap up in mid-
2001.
"At the conference we shall continue bilateral cooperation which is
progressing well with many European states.
Speaking about protest rallies announced for Summit day, Racan said
"demonstrations are part of democracy" and that he was certain they
would pass in peace and without incidents.
Asked about the Interior Ministry's ban on the demonstrations, he
said the ban on demonstrations in the "security zone" around the
premises of the Summit was imperative for the security of the
participants.
Most protest organisers have said they object to Yugoslav President
Vojislav Kostunica's arrival without a prior apology to the
Croatian people for last decade's Serb aggression.
Racan told reporters Kostunica might do so at the Summit, stressing
that for Croatia, the change of policy in Belgrade was much more
important than a declarative apology.
"An apology will have to come sooner or later" and it remains one of
the conditions for the development of bilateral cooperation, he
said.
According to Racan, the frameworks for possible talks with
Kostunica and Yugoslav representatives at the Summit and in the
future are determined by conclusions the Croatian government
adopted on relations with Yugoslavia in mid-October. These focus on
issues of succession to the former Yugoslav federation, the stance
on war crimes, Yugoslavia's new leadership's position on
Milosevic's policy, the fate of detained and missing persons, the
protection of minorities' rights, and refugee returns.
There is still no official confirmation of the arrival of a Yugoslav
delegation, and Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic, Racan said,
adding the latest information indicated they would arrive in the
morning on Summit day.
Most reporters' questions referred to Kostunica, which urged the
prime minister to appeal for understanding.
"The Croatian delegation doesn't want this to be a summit focusing
on Serbia and Yugoslavia-related issues. I appeal to you to
understand this. Don't ask us to score this kind of own goal."
Asked if the Summit would tackle open issues between ex-Yugoslav
states, Racan said the Summit should not be "encumbered by such
operational tasks" and that the biggest contribution to the
realisation of those issues would be EU's willingness to open for
cooperation with the region's countries.
Commenting on the decision of parliament's House of Counties to
convene on Summit day to debate its "significance and
achievements," Racan said that upper house president Mrs. Katica
Ivanisevic "decided to hold another mini-summit concurrently with
the Summit."
The majority in the upper house belongs to the Croatian Democratic
Union, the strongest opposition party which lost ruling power at
January's election and is against the Zagreb Summit.
Racan said that as a citizen, he thought it would have been better if
the upper house had convened after the Summit. People who are "not
much inclined" towards the Summit can, too, express their opinion
in a democratic fashion, he said.
(hina) ha jn