CROATIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER RECEIVES EC OFFICIAL

ZAGREB, Nov 16 (Hina) - Croatian Deputy Foreign Minister Ivo Sanader on Monday met with Gerhard Sabathil, the newly-appointed head of the European Commission general administration for external relations, in charge of political and economic relations between the European Union and Croatia. This is Sabathil's first official visit to Croatia. Sanader told his guest that Croatia's foreign policy was oriented towards the country's getting closer to the EU as the coordinator of integration processes in Europe. He also spoke about Croatia's role in the post-war period in the region, in particular its relations with Bosnia-Herzegovina. Both sides expressed a wish for the political dialogue between Croatia and the EU to improve, with the aim of integrating Croatia into the PHARE programme and signing a cooperation agreement. Sabathil said the EC was ready to help Croatia in the usual transition process such as the strengthening of democracy and the rule of law, human rights protection and economic reform. It was agreed that Croatia would continue organising the visits of its government officials to Brussels with the aim of improving cooperation and creating conditions for the institutionalising of its relations with the EU during the spring of 1999. (hina) rml