SWISS AND CROATIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS HOLD TALKS IN BERN

( Editorial: --> 2859 ) BERN, March 27 (Hina) - Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic on Friday held talks in Bern with Swiss President and Foreign Minister Flavio Cotti over the most important bilateral issues and the situation in the region, especially in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo. Following the talks, Cotti said Switzerland was greatly interested in the success of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) mission in Croatia, which is headed by Swiss ambassador Tim Guldiman. He expressed satisfaction with cooperation between the mission and Croatia to date. "The success of the OSCE mission in Croatia is tied to the whole situation in Croatia," Cotti said, adding that Switzerland was particularly interested in the possibility of two-way return of refugees in Croatia and Bosnia. Switzerland has set a deadline for refugees to be returned to Bosnia by the end of August. Cotti announced Switzerland's participation in a donors' conference in Zagreb in May and Swiss support for reconstruction of destroyed houses and agriculture. Granic assessed bilateral relations as very good and said agreements on avoiding double taxation and on trade and economic cooperation between the two countries should be signed before summer. Switzerland is Croatia's third largest trading partner under the total number of direct investments and special interest is shown in further investment in banking and tourism, the Croatian Foreign Minister said. He expressed support for the OSCE mission in Croatia and informed the Swiss side of discussions with the Bosnian Serb entity on the two-way return of refugees and the opening of a Croatian consulate in Banja Luka, as well as discussions on special relations between Croatia and the Croat-Muslim Federation of BH. Granic was accompanied by Croatia's Ambassador to Switzerland, Petar Sarcevic, the assistant ministers for economy and Europe, Spomenka Cek and Josko Paro respectively, and Ambassador Zoran Bosnjak. Also taking part in the talks on the Swiss side was OSCE mission to Croatia head Tim Guldiman. (Hina) mb /ha 271714 MET mar 98