BILATERAL TALKS CONFIRM CROATIA'S STRONGER INTERNATIONAL POSITION - GRANIC

GRANIC ( Editorial: --> 9671 ) COPENHAGEN, Dec 19 (Hina) - Bilateral meetings held during a two- day ministerial conference of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Copenhagen have confirmed "Croatia's stronger international position", Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic said Friday. Croatia's new diplomatic initiative to resume negotiations on cooperation with the European Union has been supported at all meetings, in particular with Western foreign ministers, Granic said. Talks also focused on the peace process in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the latest events in central Bosnia. Croatia does not dispute SFOR's right to arrest persons accused of war crimes, but is deeply concerned over the imbalance of the arrests, Granic said, adding his interlocutors showed understanding and approval of this standpoint. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott assessed this stand as "level-headed", Granic said, adding understanding was also expressed during talks with French and Russian Foreign Ministers, Hubert Vedrine and Yevgeniy Primakov respectively, and the Holy See's secretary for foreign relations, Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran. Joint French-German support for Croatia's attempt to resume negotiations on cooperation with the European Union was announced during Granic's meeting with his French counterpart Vedrine. Granic was invited to visit France early next year. Austrian Foreign Minister Wolfgang Schussel told Granic the Austrian government would support Croatia's resumed negotiations with the EU and other European institutions. Granic conducted brief talks on the matter with Italian Secretary of State Piero Fassino and Danish Foreign Minister Niels Helveg Petersen as well. Satisfaction with the course of peaceful reintegration of eastern Croatia was expressed during Granic's talks with Russia's Primakov on Thursday. It was announced Foreign Minister Primakov would visit Croatia early next year. It was agreed that Swiss Foreign Minister Flavio Cotti would also visit Croatia. Granic's talks with Israeli Ambassador Colett Avital focused on improving cooperation. It was announced certain bilateral agreements could be signed in the near future. The Croatian foreign minister also held talks with his Cypriot counterpart Ioannis Kasoulides which focused on improving bilateral relations. Cyprus supported Croatia's standpoint concerning succession to the former Yugoslavia. Future bilateral meetings were also discussed with Slovene and Bulgarian Foreign Ministers, Boris Frlec and Nadezda Mihajlova respectively. (hina) ha jn 191639 MET dec 97