SLOVENE PRESIDENT PAYS LAST RESPECTS TO PRESIDENT TUDJMAN

ZAGREB, Dec 11 (Hina) - Slovene President Milan Kucan, who heads a Slovene delegation, on Saturday paid last respects at the Presidential Palace in Zagreb to the deceased Croatian President Franjo Tudjman. President Kucan signed the book of condolence and held brief talks with Croatian Parliament President Vlatko Pavletic and Premier Zlatko Matesa. Asked to say what he would most remember President Tudjman by, Kucan said he would remember him most for his cooperation in 1991 and 1992, when they had jointly prepared for establishing the independence of the two states. That was a productive period in our cooperation when foundations were laid for, I hope, a new chapter in our relations, because both the Croats and the Slovenes deserve that, Kucan said. Asked about Tudjman's role in the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia and the creation of the Croatian state, the Slovene president said President Tudjman was one of the people who had left the most prominent mark on the process of disintegration of the former Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia, especially on the creation of the Croatian state, to which he gave his personal mark. His actions will be judged objectively by history, he added. Kucan expressed a wish to be the first foreign statesman who would pay tribute to President Tudjman and extend condolences to the Tudjman family, the President's Chief-of-Staff Ivica Kostovic told reporters. That you have come here personally means very much to us, President Tudjman and you have cooperated a lot, Parliament President Vlatko Pavletic told the Slovene president. (hina) mm rml