E.U. IS CROATIA'S MOST IMPORTANT ECONOMIC PARTNER - MATESA

GRAZ, Nov 9 (Hina) - One of Croatia's strategic goals is to take an active part in the process of European integration, Prime Minister Zlatko Matesa said in the Austrian town of Graz on Saturday. European Union member states are Croatia's most important economic partners so that its wish to join Euro-Atlantic organizations, primarily the European Union, NATO and the Western European Union, is natural, Matesa said in his address to a plenary session of prime ministers and foreign ministers of Central European Initiative member states. Croatia wants to intensify negotiations with Central European countries on its admission to the Central European Free Trade Association because it sees prospects for its development in links with the markets of these countries as well as with European Union markets, he said. Matesa emphasized the role of the Central European Initiative as a mechanism for establishing closer ties between its members states and the European Union. (hina) vm 091243 MET nov 96