CROATIA SUPPORTS EU INITIATIVE FOR STABILITY PACT -- FOREIGN MINISTER

BUDAPEST, May 7 (Hina) - Croatia is determined to cooperate and play and active role in the establishment of a stability pact for the south-east of Europe, initiated by the European Union and which is very different from a regional approach, Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic said in Budapest on Friday. "There is a big difference between a pact on stability in which Croatia can participate actively, and a regional approach which was accepted without even asking any country, including Croatia," Granic said after a session of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers. "Croatia will cooperate very intensively and play and active role in the creation of this pact," Granic stressed. A meeting of political experts of countries on the first line will take place in Zagreb in ten days, and a meeting of representatives of the EU and neighbour countries will take place in Petersberg near Bonn at the end of the month, he announced. Granic held bilateral talks during his stay in Budapest, including the Austrian, Ukrainian, Slovakian and Hungarian foreign ministers. "It was important to use the opportunity for a meeting with ministers who are connected with the creation of the new stability pact so that we could actively participate and stabilise the last unstable region in Europe," Granic said. (hina) lml