CROATIAN PRESIDENT RECEIVES U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE

ZAGREB, Jan 13 (Hina) - Croatian President Franjo Tudjman received US Assistant Secretary of State John Kornblum on Monday. The President's Office said in a statement that Kornblum informed Tudjman about his talks with leaders of Bosnia- Herzegovina and the Bosnian Federation in Sarajevo. The successful completion of the peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danube region will be a positive sign for the peace process in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kornblum said, expressing satisfaction with the developments in the Moslem-Croat Federation. Tudjman stressed that Croatia's priority was to successfully complete the peaceful reintegration process in the Danube area. He reiterated Croatia's support for the Washington and Dayton accords. Croatia is interested in opening traffic and trade links to Southeastern Europe, and as a Central European country it is willing to bear its part of the responsibility for the situation in the neighbouring Balkan region, Tudjman said. Attending the talks were Presidential Chief of Staff Hrvoje Sarinic, Foreign Minister Mate Granic, Defence Minister Gojko Susak and Presidential Foreign Policy Adviser Zeljko Matic, the statement concluded. 132038 MET jan 97