CROATIA AND YUGOSLAVIA DISCUSS FURTHER NORMALIZATION OF RELATIONS

ZAGREB, Oct 29 (Hina) - The foreign ministers of Croatia and Yugoslavia, Mate Granic and Milan Milutinovic, met in Zagreb on Tuesday to discuss the further implementation of the agreement on the normalization of relations signed in Belgrade on August 23. The two ministers signed an agreement abolishing visa requirements for diplomats and government officials. Speaking to reporters after the talks, they announced that until the end of the year the two countries would sign a number of agreements regulating internal affairs, social welfare, health and pension, road and railway traffic, property and economic issues. Granic said that he and his Yugoslav counterpart had "open and substantial talks on all matters of mutual interest." Granic announced that the Croatian and Yugoslav interior ministers would meet in Belgrade on November 11 for talks on an agreement on fighting drug trafficking, international terrorism, providing police escort for extradited persons and other security issues. Commissions for the restoration of railway traffic would meet in Belgrade next Monday while negotiations on road traffic were expected to start soon. The two ministers agreed on establishing a commission for property issues. Progress was made as regards a consular convention, and Granic said he believed that negotiations on this matter would be completed until the end of the year. The two ministers would recommend to their governments to set up commissions to negotiate economic agreements. Granic said that until those agreements were signed economic relations between Croatia and Yugoslavia would be regulated by a temporary economic agreement. Milutinovic described the results of the meeting as "a substantial political will" of the two countries to further work out the normalization agreement to facilitate the flow of commodities and people to the benefit of citizens of both countries. Milutinovic put a particular emphasis on the normalization of economic relations between the two countries. The two ministers also discussed the peaceful reintegration of the eastern Serb-held Danube river area into Croatia. Granic stressed that the issue was discussed "in the spirit of the Erdut agreement." "Both delegations firmly support efforts to complete that process peacefully and on schedule," Granic said, noting that exact dates were not discussed. "We have especially agreed on the consistent implementation of the Erdut agreement, its letter and spirit," Milutinovic said. Both delegations supported the implementation of the Dayton peace agreement and agreed that the process of succession to the former Yugoslav federation should be accelerated. Granic said that certain progress was made as regards the very sensitive issue of missing persons, announcing that commissions of the two countries would meet in Zagreb until November 10. "Hopes that someone has survived are slim," Granic said in response to a question on whether it was possible that any of the people from the list of missing persons had survived. Granic announced that he would visit Belgrade later this year to sign several important agreements. (hina) vm jn 292048 MET oct 96