CRO PARLIAMENT SPEAKER RETURNS FROM OFFICIAL VISIT TO ITALY

ZAGREB, Dec 2 (Hina) - The visit of a Croatian parliament delegation to Rome aimed at the strengthening of parliamentary cooperation between the two countries, as well as in the entire region of Southeast Europe, Croatian parliament speaker Zlatko Tomcic said in Zagreb Friday evening after returning from Italy. "We have entirely succeeded in this because Italian partners offered initiative to jointly organise a conference of Mediterranean countries", Tomcic said. According to him, the conference is planned for the first half of February. The conference will discuss the functioning of a law- based state with a special emphasis on the stability of democratic and economic systems. The conference, which is to be held in Rome, will gather representatives of Italy, Croatia, Albania, Slovenia, Bosnia- Herzegovina, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Greece, while Macedonia and Montenegro would attend the conference as observers. During his visit Italy, the Croatian parliament speaker held numerous bilateral meetings. He and the Croatian delegation held talks with state deputy secretary for Europe Umberto Ranieri, members of the Italian parliament foreign policy committee, president of the Italian House of Representatives Luciano Violante, representatives of the committee for the constitution, and others. (hina) it