FOREIGN MINISTER HOPEFUL PLAN FOR CRO. ACCESS TO NATO IN SIX MONTHS

BRUSSELS, Dec 15 (Hina) - Croatia's foreign minister said on Friday he would like NATO's Membership Action Plan for Croatia to coincide with Croatia's conclusion of an Association and Stabilisation Agreement with the European Union, i.e. in six months. Minister Tonino Picula talked to Croatian reporters in Brussels, where he attended a Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) ministerial conference. "Croatia is in serious preparations, doing the necessary steps in the rapprochement with NATO process," he said. Speaking about the conclusions of the Brussels conference, Picula said: "After a long time, it is a document covering the security situation in Southeast Europe without mentioning Croatia in any way. This proves that Croatia has been recognised as a factor of stability, which I pointed out in my address." He had told the conference, among else, that during 2000 Croatia had demonstrated a political maturity which made it a safer and more stable country than before. He had stressed, however, that there remained unresolved security issues, for instance that of Prevlaka, Croatia's southernmost tip which borders on Yugoslavia. "I said I expected the security engagement which finally takes Prevlaka off the agenda of the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly will be realised in 2001. I called on our EAPC partners to help us," he told the Croatian press. He was asked to comment on U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's address at NATO's ministerial council on Thursday, in which she urged supporting Croatia's authorities in resolving numerous transition-related issues, but also called on Croatia to continue cooperating with UN's war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Picula said Croatia had no intention of neglecting its international commitments, cooperation with the tribunal included. "It is one of the elements of our foreign affairs identity. Possible issues should be solved through dialogue and not concepts." From Brussels, Picula departed for Venice for Saturday's European Commission for Democracy Through Law conference. (hina) ha