CROATIA, HUNGARY HARMONIZE TEXT OF MILITARY COOPERATION ACCORD

ZAGREB, Jan 23 (Hina) - Senior Croatian and Hungarian defence officials met in Zagreb on Tuesday and harmonized the text of a military cooperation agreement which is to be signed in Budapest early next month. "We have been working on the agreement on bilateral military cooperation for some time now. Today we harmonized the text and at the beginning of February I'm travelling to Budapest to sign it," Croatian Defence Minister Gojko Susak told reporters after meeting his Hungarian counterpart Gyorgy Keleti. The meeting also focused on the deployment of a Hungarian engineering battalion near Okucani and Nova Gradiska in Croatia as part of the NATO-led peace Implementation Force (IFOR) in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Last week, a Hungarian advance guard arrived in Okucani, about 100 km southeast of Zagreb, and the bulk of the 300-strong Hungarian IFOR Battalion was expected later this month. Keleti expressed satisfaction that Croatia was willing to help in the deployment of Hungarian troops. "We're coming as friends and we're glad that our troops will be received as friends," Keleti said. (hina) vm 231944 MET jan 96