CRO FOREIGN MINISTER HOLDS TALKS WITH MARGARET THATCHER

( Editorial: --> 0647 ) ZAGREB, Sept 15 (Hina) - Baroness Margaret Thatcher, who is currently visiting Croatia, received on Tuesday at her residence in Zagreb the Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic. Minister Granic informed Baroness Thatcher about Croatia's present economic and political situation. During the short period after the declaration of independence, Croatia has resolved all of its main problems and made major achievements, including the reintegration of the country, Baroness Thatcher stressed. She said she believed Croatia was a country with a bright future, a statement from the Croatian Foreign Ministry said. Granic also informed Thatcher about Croatia's commitment to a consistent implementation of the Dayton Accords. He stressed that the survival of Croats as a constitutive people was a key element for the development of the Federation of Bosnia- Herzegovina and, consequently, of the Bosnia-Herzegovina as envisaged by the Dayton Accords. Baroness Thatcher and Minister Granic also discussed the functioning of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague. Minister Granic told his distinguished guest that so far nobody had been indicted for proven crimes against Croats in BH and that all the persons indicted for crimes in Croatia were still at large. Baroness Thatcher expressed interest in Croatia's relations with its neighbours and Minister Granic emphasised that other than the further development of neighbourly relations, Croatia's strategic interest was to join common European and trans-Atlantic mechanisms, the Ministry statement said. (Hina) mro jn /mbr 151859 MET sep 98