HIGH REPRESENTATIVE PRAISES COOPERATION COUNCIL AGREEMENT

( Editorial: --> 3427 ) SARAJEVO, March 30 (Hina) - Simon Haselock, spokesman for the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia-Herzegovina, praised the signing of the Agreement on the Establishment of the Council for Cooperation between Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, signed on Monday in Zagreb by the Croatian and Bosnian Foreign Ministers Mate Granic and Jadranko Prlic. The agreement is in line with the request for Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia to consolidate their bilateral relations, which was made by the Bonn conference on the implementation of the Dayton Accord at the end of last year, Haselock told today's press conference in Sarajevo. Today's signing is a result of a decision by the Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina entrusting Minister Jadranko Prlic to accept the document on behalf of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Haselock said. We see the Council as a forum which will discuss joint interests of the two countries, said Haselock. He added that the signing of the agreement is a positive turn of events. However, the foreign policy adviser to the President of the Bosnian Presidency, Mirza Hajric, expressed caution in regard to the real range of the document signed today. In a statement published by the Sarajevo daily Oslobodenje, Hajric said he fears the agreement is a formality, adding he would personally like to believe that it will improve the interstate relations. Hajric said the real proof of improving relations would be resolving problems in regards to the port of Ploce and relations in the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina. (hina) mm mrb/rm 301654 MET mar 98