SCHROEDER VIEWS ZAGREB SUMMIT AS HISTORIC

ZAGREB, Nov 24 (Hina) - Commenting on Friday's Zagreb Summit, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder described it as a "historic" and said to countries in the region they could count on the European Union member-states' full support in their long road towards the Union. This was the historic Summit as for about last ten years the region was battered by four wars and one year ago nobody could foresee that all would finish like this, Schroeder told a news conference he held at the end of the Summit. It was excellent to choose the slogan "On the Path to European Union" for the Summit, the German Chancellor said adding that the road for the countries in the region towards the EU would be long, however. According to him, two aspects play an important role on that path: the regional mutual cooperation at political and economic levels and the EU support to the countries concerned at those two levels. The political stability requires sound economic relations, while for the development of the economy it is important to have the political stability, he explained. The EU will help the region in all possible ways, and 10 billion German marks will be made available to the region as the financial assistance, he told reporters. Germany will also offer bilateral aid to the region, Chancellor Schroeder said explained that Berlin will earmark DM 1.2 billion as the assistance through the Stability Pact in coming four years. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia will also receive the financial aid through the Pact, he added. Asked about the cooperation between Belgrade and the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Schroeder said the ICTY requests for war criminals' extradition must be fulfilled. He, however, held that some time should be given to the incumbent authorities in Belgrade for the establishment of full democracy in the country. (hina) jn ms