SANADER MEETS FRENCH PRESIDENT'S CHIEF FOREIGN POLICY ADVISER

PARIS, June 13 (Hina) - The Croatian President's Chief of Staff, Ivo Sanader, met for talks with the French President's Chief Foreign Policy Adviser, Jean-David Levitte, in Paris on Thursday. Sanader informed Levitte about the current situation in Croatia and the region. He said that Croatia could not agree to an approach that would make its admission to European integrations conditional on establishing closer ties with other countries in Southeastern Europe. Levitte said that the normalization of relations with its neighbours, the achievement of a lasting peace and stability in the region and the resolution of minority issues would bring Croatia closer to the European Union. Levitte stressed that France considered Croatia not as a Balkan but a Central European country and that it supported the development of relations between Croatia and the EU and Croatia's accession to the Council of Europe as quickly as possible. The talks also focused on the renewal of talks on a cooperation agreement between Croatia and the EU and on the PHARE program. Sanader relayed an invitation from Croatian President Franjo Tudjman to French President Jacques Chirac to visit Croatia. (hina) vm jn 132305 MET jun 96