CROATIA AND FRANCE TO STRENGTHEN RELATIONS

( Editorial: --> 9738 ) PARIS, Feb 5 (Hina) - France will support Croatia's entry into Euro- Atlantic integrations, and both countries have expressed their will and readiness to further strengthen bilateral relations, Croatian and French foreign ministers Mate Granic and Hubert Vedrine said in Paris on Thursday. "I would particularly like to stess the firm decisiveness of the Croatian authority to orientate its foreign and economic policy towards moving closer to the European Union," Vedrine said, adding that France encouraged and supported this orientation. "All this has to be considered in a wider context and take care of existing problems. Those are the issues of the Croatian Danube river region and the implementation of the Dayton Agreement," Vedrine said. Granic said that Croatia considered the most important the reopening of the PHARE programme and the renewal of negotiations on cooperation with the European union, the completion of talks with the World Trade Organisation and, at the end of the year, the beginning of negotiations on the Partnership for Peace programme. "As regards the situation in Croatia, the main subject was the completion of the process of peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danube river region and the continuation of the same government policy which had resulted in the successful completion of the process," Granic said. Croatia was resolute in its intention to harshly condemn every incident which could jeopardise Croatia's credibility, Granic added. "The most determined stance about the issue was voiced by President Tudjman several times recently," he said. "We hail the post-Dayton government in Republika Srpska," Granic said, adding that Croatia was ready to talks about economic cooperation and a new system of visas. Granic and Vedrine talked about the total process of strengthening the Bosnian Federation, and especially about negotiations on special relations between Croatia and the Bosnian Federation, the consortium on the construction of roads, solving of passage problems through the Bosnian Federation on the central Adriatic (Neum), and the use of the Ploce harbour by the Bosnian Federation. "We believe that the agreements will be signed soon, and Croatia is waiting for the Bosnian Federation to appoint their delegation for negotiations," Granic said. Granic said that Croatia intended to open a General Consulate in Banja Luka, adding that it was waiting for consent from the Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina. During the talks, it was officially confirmed that Vedrine and his German counterpart Klaus Kinkel will arrive in Croatia on 8 march for an official visit. (hina) lm jn 052016 MET feb 98