GRANIC & FISCHER ON CONTINUATION OF CRO-GERMAN FRIENDSHIP POLICY

OSLO, Dec 3 (Hina) - Croatia and Germany wish to pursue with the policy of friendship and continuity, the Foreign Ministers of the two countries agreed in Oslo on Thursday. Their meeting was the first between government representatives of the two countries since the September elections in Germany. According to Croatia's Mate Granic, talks tackled the situation in Croatia and the wider region, with special emphasis on Bosnia- Herzegovina and the issue of the south Yugoslav province of Kosovo. "With regard to the part of the talks on the situation in Croatia, we focused on the course of the refugee return process, and the European Union's (EU) expectations of Croatia. We openly talked about the Electoral Law, the media, and the situation in the justice and banking systems," said Granic. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer pointed out further democratisation was very important both for Croatia and for stability in the region. The EU was interested in Croatia's integration with European institutions, he said. Granic added the talks also tackled economic cooperation. The Croatian Foreign Minister is attending the seventh session of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Council of Ministers in Oslo, which began yesterday. Today, he also had a brief meeting with NATO Deputy Secretary- General Klaus-Peter Kleiber. (hina) ha jn