THERE ARE NO OPEN QUESTIONS BETWEEN CROATIA AND POLAND - GRANIC

( Editorial: --> 8916 ) ZAGREB, June 4 (Hina) - Croatia and Poland have good bilateral relations and there are no open questions between the two countries, Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic said on Thursday following his meeting with the Polish Foreign Minister Bronislav Geremek in Zagreb. The two countries share the same strategic interests concerning European integration processes and there is an increasing interest in all forms of cooperation, Granic added. The Polish Foreign Minister is on a working visit to Zagreb. On Friday and Saturday Geremek will participate in a ministerial meeting of the Central European Initiative (CEI) in Brijuni. One of the topics of today's talks was also the mission of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Croatia, to start this September, Granic said. Poland is chairing OSCE currently. "There are no open questions between Croatia and Poland; 14 various agreements have been signed and five are still being discussed. It is of special importance that negotiations on a free trade agreement are almost completed. This agreement is to be signed after Croatia's admission to the World Trade Organisation," Granic said. Croatia and Poland share the same strategic interests - admission to NATO and the European Union, the two ministers said. Poland is among the six countries which are candidates in the new NATO expansion round and it is to complete negotiations with the Czech Republic and Hungary about admission to NATO. Croatia is ready to fulfil obligations set by the international community but it also has clear expectations which include a cooperation agreement with the EU, membership in the WTO, Central European Free Trade Agreement, Partnership for Peace and, as a first step, its admission to the PHARE programme Granic said. "Our final goals are NATO and EU," he added. The Croatian Foreign Minister stressed the improving cultural, scientific and economic cooperation between Croatia and Poland. The two ministers agreed, however, that trade remained low. "We are not satisfied with the speed of trade development," Granic said. Both ministers expressed satisfaction with the fact that the number of Polish tourists in Croatia is increasing. Geremek said he expected that around 100,000 Polish tourists would visit Croatia this year. Granic informed his guest about the course of adoption of the refugee return programme. "I have informed Minister Geremek that the Government will adopt the Return Programme by June 20 and that a parliamentary discussion on the Plan is expected to take place on June 25 and 26," Granic said. The two ministers also discussed the situation in Bosnia- Herzegovina and Kosovo. Geremek said that both countries were ready to get involved in the solution of the Kosovo crisis. (hina) rml/bag , 041728 MET jun 98