SLOVENIAN AND CROATIAN PREMIERS SATISFIED WITH TALKS

PORTOROZ, Sept 13 (Hina) - Slovenian and Croatian Prime Ministers, Janez Drnovsek and Zlatko Matesa respectively, held a working meeting in the Slovenian town of Portoroz where CEFTA member-states' premiers are holding a two-day conference. The one-hour talks revolved round the accelerating of finding resolutions of remaining open questions between the two countries and round the bilateral cooperation. After the meeting Drnovsek and Matesa voiced satisfaction with constructive and meaningful talks. "I am exceptionally pleased with the atmosphere of the meeting by which we have made a constructive step forward in our ties and agreed on accelerating the dynamics of settling the remaining issues," Croatian Premier Matesa said after the meeting. He said that they had discussed the Krsko nuclear power plant, the establishment of a free trade zone, the question of land borders and the entire border between the two countries, and savings at Ljubljanska Bank. The Croatian premier expressed optimism about the fact that some of the questions would be very soon settled and that remaining open issues would not hinder the development of overall relations. Slovenian Premier Drnovsek also expressed optimism and said that during the meeting they had tried to seek rational and pragmatic solutions to the issues, and added that an agreement on the Krsko power plant could be soon reached. Commenting on liberalisation of trade, he said that Slovenian and Croatian economies were rather complimentary and that Croatia's joining European associations and the CEFTA (Central European Free Trade Agreement) was in the interest of his country. The two premiers also agreed on meetings of Croatian and Slovenian Interior and Agriculture Ministers. Present at the Portoroz talks were Slovenian and Croatian Foreign Ministers, Zoran Thaler and Mate Granic respectively, Economy Ministers, Metod Dragonja and Neven Porges respectively, Slovenian Ambassador in Zagreb, Matija Malesic, and Croatian Ambassador in Ljubljana, Ivica Mastruko. Drnovsek can be expected to visit officially Croatia after some of open questions have been settled. During the CEFTA conference, Matesa met his counterparts from central and eastern European countries for talks about the trade and economic cooperation and conclusion of free trade zones treaties. Croatian officials and a Ukrainian delegation agreed that their two countries should start negotiating on the conclusion of such treaty. (hina) mš 131214 MET sep 97