CROATIA WELCOMES G8 DRAFT RESOLUTION - GRANIC IN LONDON

LONDON, June 8 (Hina) - Croatia welcomes the draft resolution made by the foreign ministers of G8 group countries in the aim to end the Kosovo crisis, Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic said in London on Tuesday. Speaking to reporters after talks with British counterpart Robin Cook and state secretary Tony Lloyd, Granic said the talks, in the "light of the resolution agreement", focused primarily on Kosovo, a stability pact for south-eastern Europe, and the overall political processes in Croatia. The foreign ministers of Russia and seven of the most important western countries on Tuesday met in Koeln and agreed on the text of a resolution on the Kosovo conflict; the text is to be discussed by the United Nations Security Council. Assessing the resolution as "the most important step towards the establishment of peace and the end of war," Granic said "Croatia welcomes the passing of the resolution", and expressed hope China would accept it. Great Britain has supported Croatia's role in the Kosovo conflict and the way it has cooperated with NATO, Granic said, adding Cook and Lloyd had made a positive assessment of negotiations on border issues with Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the way Croatia regulates its relations with Slovenia. With regard to internal politics, the two British officials welcomed an agreement on the electoral law between Croatia's opposition and the ruling party. Speaking about the stability pact for south-eastern Europe, motioned by Germany in April, Granic said Zagreb and London "agree it represents a new opportunity to stabilise the entire region." It would not include only the countries covered by the so called regional approach - Croatia, Bosnia, Yugoslavia, Macedonia, and Albania - but also Slovenia, Hungary, Greece, Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria. Croatia believes the most important aspect is that "each country be taken into account individually," and that there be an "individual approach with the fundamental aim of creating conditions for integration with European institutions," Granic said. "We believe negotiations for Partnership for Peace and the Agreement on Stability and associated membership in the European Union will for Croatia be opened this year," the foreign minister said. Asked by a reporter about differences between the EU proposal on the stability pact for south-eastern Europe and that of the Southeast Europe Cooperation Initiative (SECI), an American initiative for cooperation in south-eastern Europe, Granic said the EU draft was "much wider", "including mechanisms for economic reconstruction and development, democratic institutions, and the protection of human rights, as well as general security." "The SECI encompasses only one segment, economic development," the foreign minister said, explaining the American initiative "has another dimension, namely development and cooperation in south- east European countries based on projects, such as fighting crime." Granic told reporters he had also met Lord Dundee, a member of the British parliament who initiated the establishment of a multiparty parliamentary group for Croatia. Croatia's foreign minister invited a British parliamentary delegation to visit Croatia in September. The multiparty parliamentary group, to comprise some 30 representatives from both houses of the British parliament, will be established on Tuesday evening. Its aim is to improve Croatian- British relations and help the British public better understand Croatia. (hina) ha