CROATIAN AND GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTERS END TALKS IN FRANKFURT

FRANKFURT, Aug 16 (Hina) - Seven Bosnian Croats indicted for war crimes are willing to turn themselves in to the Hague tribunal if they are ensured a quick trial, Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic said in Frankfurt on Saturday after meeting his German counterpart Klaus Kinkel. "The seven indictees of the so-called Vitez group are ready to go to The Hague voluntarily if they are ensured a trial within three to four months," Granic said, adding that such a precondition was prompted by the case of General Tihomir Blaskic who had waited for 16 months for his trial to begin. Granic stressed that Croatia was willing to arrest any war crimes suspect on its territory and that it would use its influence with the Bosnian Croats. "We hope that the seven Croats of Vitez will voluntarily turn themselves in to the tribunal in The Hague as soon as possible," Kinkel said, adding that Croatia must make the documents relevant for the Blaskic case available to the tribunal. Granic said that Croatia was willing to hand over to the Hague tribunal all documents regarding the Blaskic case that would not put its national security at risk. Granic and Kinkel discussed German-Croatian relations, implementation of the Dayton peace accords and Croatia's bid to get closer to Euro-Atlantic institutions. Both ministers described the talks as good. Kinkel said that the talks particularly focused on cooperation with the Hague tribunal, return of refugees and implementation of the Dayton agreement. "Germany has supported Croatia's accession to Europe from the beginning and will continue to do so. Croatia is an important country and therefore it shares the responsibility for the situation in the region," Kinkel said. The pace of Croatia getting closer to the European Union would depend on "how fast it will solve the above-mentioned open issues," he said. Kinkel stressed that Croatia could rely on Germany whenever it had found itself in a difficult situation in the past. Granic thanked Germany for its support for Croatia's accession to Euro-Atlantic structures, stressing that Croatia's current priorities were joining the Central European Free Trade Agreement, signing agreements with the European Union and the World Trade Organisation, and joining NATO's Partnership for Peace programme. The two ministers said that the process of peaceful reintegration of the UN-administered Danube river region into Croatia was progressing very successfully. Granic said he expected that the reintegration process would be completed by November this year and that it would formally last until January next year. Kinkel emphasised that Germany attached great importance to the problem of return of refugees to Bosnia-Herzegovina because about 300,000 refugees from the former Yugoslavia were currently staying there. Kinkel asked Croatia to make every effort so that the refugees could return to their homes. He warned that incidents like the one which had recently occurred in Jajce should not happen again. "Croatia supports the return of all refugees to their homes," Granic said, emphasising that it could only use its influence to ensure their return to the Bosnian Moslem-Croat Federation. Stressing that the greatest problem was repatriation of refugees to Serb-controlled Bosnia-Herzegovina, from where about 60 per cent of refugees had fled, Granic said that Croatia would open border crossings towards the Bosnian Serb Republic on September 1 in line with the Dayton agreement and for the purpose of facilitating the return of refugees. Granic stressed Croatia's full support for the strengthening of the Bosnian Federation and the implementation of the peace plan for Bosnia-Herzegovina. Speaking of the problem of Croatian Serb refugees, Granic said that Croatia was willing to receive all Serbs staying in the UN- controlled Danube region who wished to return to other areas of Croatia they had left. Granic recalled that about 2,000 Serb refugees had returned to other parts of Croatia in the last two months. He said that about 17,000 Serbs had returned to date from Yugoslavia and the Croatian Danube region. Noting that a further 8,000 Serbs from the Danube region and 10,000 from Yugoslavia had expressed a wish to return to other areas of Croatia, Granic said that Croatia was willing to take them back. As for the bilateral cooperation, Granic and Kinkel stressed the mutual interest of their countries in strengthening their economic relations. Granic underlined that Germany was Croatia's No. 1 business partner and an important political partner within the European Union. Kinkel said that Germany was particularly interested in participating in the privatisation process in Croatia. Kinkel said that the car maker Audi was interested in producing car parts in Croatia and that German companies would like to take part in the restructuring and reconstruction of Croatian railways. Kinkel very positively assessed Croatia's economic development. He praised its decision to buy Airbus planes, saying that it testified to Croatia's European orientation. Kinkel agreed that the German Chamber of Commerce should open its office in Zagreb. Croatia and Germany are expected to sign very soon agreements on double taxation avoidance and investment protection. (hina) vm 162047 MET aug 97