EUCD VICE-PRESIDENT ON HDZ'S STATUS IN EUCD

ZAGREB, Feb 28 (Hina) - Wim van Velzen, the vice president of the European Christian Democratic Union and member of the European Parliament, said in Zagreb last night that the delegation he was leading on a visit to Croatia had a positive attitude towards the possibility of accepting the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party as a full member of the EUCD, but it could not be precise on when this would happen. Asked why HDZ's observer status had not changed since 1991 van Velzen said that the decision on full memembersip was delayed in 1993 when there was a lot of debate concerning Croatia's role in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In the meantime we've noticed that the Croatian Governement and the HDZ played a very positive role in terms of resolving the crisis in Bosnia-Herzegovina. That is why we decided to come here and get it clear what HDZ's position was on UNPROFOR's withdrawal. This will be discussed in the next couple of days, van Velzen said. (Hina) jn sd as 281241 MET feb 95