CROATIA IS RELIABLE PARTNER IN PEACE PROCESS - MATESA, GRANIC

LISBON, Dec 3 (Hina) - Croatia is no longer a European security problem but a reliable partner in the peace process in southeastern Europe, Croatian Prime Minister Zlatko Matesa and Foreign Minister Mate Granic said on Tuesday in Lisbon where they are attending a summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Matesa told reporters that European countries agreed that security mechanisms must be established for the next century to prevent possibilities of military aggression similar to that against Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. It was evaluated during the two-day summit that Croatia had played a crucial role in the regional peace processes, he said. Granic said that for the first time in the four years of its membership in the OSCE Croatia was not on the agenda and that it was in a position to actively participate in efforts to find adequate security mechanisms in Europe. In a series of bilateral meetings Croatia had received support for the peaceful reintegration of its eastern Danube river region, Granic said, adding that the officials he had met emphasized that the resolution of this issue was important for Europe's security. Granic said that he had also discussed Croatia's bid to join Euro-Atlantic integration processes and to establish economic ties with Central European countries. Matesa and Granic held talks with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel, Albanian President Sali Berisha, Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy, Vatican foreign affairs representative Jean-Louis Tauran, and Hungarian Foreign Minister Laszlo Kovacs. The Lisbon summit was scheduled to close on Tuesday with the adoption of a final document on European security and a security model for the 21st century. (hina) vm jn 031519 MET dec 96