TUDJMAN AND ILIESCU SIGN AGREEMENTS

BUCHAREST, Feb 16 (Hina) - Presidents Tudjman and Iliescu today in Bucharest signed the Agreement on joint friendship and cooperation. Signed also were the Agreement on international transport and the Protocol on scientific and technical cooperation between Croatia and Romania. Tudjman and Iliescu then held a press conference at the Palace Cotroceni. Evaluating the result of his visit, President Tudjman said that agreement on most significant issues has been achieved. He also said that Romania, as the most important country in southeast Europe could play a very significant role in solving the crisis in the former Yugoslavia due to its good relations with Belgrade as well as its concern for peace and stability in the region. Asked on what conditions would Croatia stand for the lifting of sanctions against FR Yugoslavia, Tudjman answered that the prerequisite for it were achieving peace in B-H and the bringing back of the occupied Croatian territories currently under UN control. Tudjman welcomed the NATO ultimatum to Bosnian Serbs as, in his words, a finally more decisive stance by Europe and USA regarding the war in B-H. "We are hoping that the air strikes will not be necessary and that this ultimatum will be an influence on all the three sides to arrive at peace in B-H by means of negotiations", he said. Asked by a Belgrade reporter to comment on the relations between Croatia and Serbia, Tudjman stressed that Croatia tended to improve those relations, to which the recently signed declaration on normalization of relations was proof. The condition for an actual normalization of relations would be that Belgrade stop supporting Serb rebels in Croatian UNPA's , said Tudjman. He added that "Croatia is ready to guarantee to Serbs local self-rule in Serb-majority districts in Croatia, and cultural autonomy in entire Croatia". Tudjman asserted that it was time for the Croats and Serbs to normalize their relations, stressing it should be done starting from mutual recognition of states. That would create a sort of "scandinavization" of the Balkans and achieve peace and stability in the region, he said. President Iliescu estimated the visit by the Croatian President as very significant in improving relations between the two countries. "Good relations between Croatia and Romania are a significant element in the stability of the entire region", he stated. Iliescu welcomed the signing of the above mentioned declaration and said it was an important step towards the settling of the crisis in the former Yugoslavia and a precondition for the cessation of the war in B-H. Departing from the three-day visit to Romania, President Tudjman and the Croatian delegation were given an official send-off before the Palace Cotroceni. 161508 MET feb 94