SPECIAL US ENVOY HOLDS NEWS CONFERENCE IN ZAGREB

ZAGREB, Oct 23 (Hina) - The United States wants to have close and positive relations with Croatia, but Croatia must undertake the steps to bring the bilateral relations closer, US special envoy for the implementation of the Dayton Agreement, Robert Gelbard, said in Zagreb on Friday. ""The United States wants to have a close positive relationship with Croatia. Too much time has gone by without these relations becoming closer. We feel that the elements could be established to permit a closer relationship," Gelbard stressed. During talks with Croatia's senior officials on Thursday and Friday, Gelbard had very precisely stated which areas the United States held needed progress: the implementation of the Dayton accords, democratisation and the return of refugees. Washington is prepared to provide support for Croatia's admittance into Euro-Atlantic integrations, but Croatia must reach standards necessary for full membership in these institutions, he added. "The United States, for its part, (...) is prepared to support Croatia's entry into Euro-Atlantic institutions as Croatia takes the appropriate steps to meet the standards of such institutions," Gelbard stressed. We are not setting before Croatia any standards that we do not set for other countries," he stressed. Speaking about the Dayton Agreement, Gelbard said "We also presented the Government of Croatia with a list of some specific areas where we feel there needs to be greater progress on Dayton implementation - including elimination of support for parallel institutions, ending illicit financial and commercial ties, ensuring the transparency of subsidies to the Croat elements of the Federation Army, and so on." Gelbard stressed the necessity of signing the agreement on free use of the Croatian port of Ploce by citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as the free passage of Croatians through the Bosnian town of Neum which separates southernmost Croatia with the rest of the country. Also very important is the agreement on special relations between Croatia and the Croat-Moslem Bosnian Federation. The United States do not oppose the agreement on special relations because it had been envisaged by the Washington and Dayton agreements, Gelbard said, adding that the US fully supports such an agreement. He added that the United States is bothered by the fact that the signing of these agreements is constantly being tied together and made conditional on one another. Gelbard also held talks with the new Croatian Defence Minister. "I stressed to Minister Miljavac that greater civilian control and democratisation of the Defence Ministry are clear preconditions to Partnership for Peace membership," he said. We feel there has been too much delay in reforms necessary for the appropriate relationship between the military and a democratic society. Miljavac clearly understands which reforms are necessary, and my Government is interested in the results," Gelbard said. He reiterated the stance of the United States that Croatia needed democratisation of the media, especially the television, as well as amendments to the Law on Elections. "These reforms will not only benefit all Croatians, but will help foster broader establishment and consolidation of democracy throughout its entire region. in particular, we believe that media and election reforms are absolutely essential elements," he stressed. Gelbard told reporters that during talks with Croatian officials, he had stressed the need for the return of Serb refugees currently in Republika Srpska to Croatia, which would facilitate the return of Bosnian Croats. "We think there has been a satisfactory reconstruction plan established recently, and the procedure for refugee returns that the Government has established are also satisfactory. The key issue now is to get returns, and to get people back to their homes when people want to return," Gelbard said. He announced that he will meet representatives of the six largest opposition parties in Croatia on Friday night. (hina) lml