CROATIA AND FRY RESUME NEGOTIATIONS ON PREVLAKA

( Editorial: --> 0642 ) ZAGREB, Sept 15 (Hina) - Negotiating teams from Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) met on Tuesday at the Croatian Foreign Ministry in Zagreb to discuss a lasting resolution to the issue of the Prevlaka peninsula, the Croatian Foreign Ministry stated. The two negotiating teams were headed by the chief of the Croatian Government's Office for Borders, Hrvoje Kacic, and main advisor to the FRY Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Radoljub Etinski. After a discussion of open issues the two teams decided to meet again in early October in Belgrade, the statement said. Prevlaka is Croatia's southernmost peninsula which borders with the FRY, that has been trying to define it as a border dispute. Croatia refutes such interpretations, proving it with the international recognition of its borders and other resolutions by the UN that confirm Croatia's sovereignty over Prevlaka. According to Croatia, Croatia and the FRY can discuss Prevlaka only as a security issue. Croatia believes that differences in that area could be resolved through bilateral demilitarisation of the area in the interest of the security of the Croatian region of Dubrovnik and the bay of Boka Kotorska in the FRY. In June Croatia suggested to the FRY that the problem be resolved along those lines. (Hina) jn mro /mbr 151931 MET sep 98