GENEVA TALKS VERY SUCCESSFU, PRESIDENT TUDJMAN SAYS

ZAGREB, March 14 (Hina) - The Croatian delegation has had very successful talks on injecting life into the Bosnian Federation and the normalization of relations between Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Croatian President Franjo Tudjman said Monday in Geneva. The Geneva talks, organized at the initiative of the United States, involved Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, Bosnian Presidency member Ejup Ganic and the US Secretary of State, Warren Christopher, as organizer. According to President Tudjman, good results have been achieved in the military area, while "there are still quite a few problems in the civilian and political areas". During talks with the US delegation, "it was shown once again that US and Croatia held similar views on Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia's role in European integration processes," President Tudjman said. Commenting on meetings with representatives of Bosnia- Herzegovina and the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, President Tudjman said it was agreed that the Federation's cantonal structure be fully established by the end of the month. Customs issues should also be resolved by that time, ahead of a meeting of the Joint Council for Cooperation between Croatia and the Bosnian Federation scheduled for early April. The meeting between President Tudjman and Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic resulted in both parties voicing their common wish to speed up the overall normalization of relations. Asked whether the Serb side was still insisting on the Prevlaka area (the southernmost Croatian peninsula) as an open issue, President Tudjman replied in the affirmative. However, it was not in the least doubtful that Prevlaka belonged within Croatia's internationally recognized borders, he stressed. The Croatian delegation has shown readiness to accept the demilitarization of Prevlaka and to guarantee free access to ports, he said. "We are hoping that a formula satisfactory to both sides might be found at the Moscow talks between Minister Granic and his Yugoslav counterpart," President Tudjman concluded. (hina) jn as 182116 MET mar 96