DOMLJAN ADDRESSES COUNCIL OF EUROPE SESSION IN STRASBOURG

ZAGREB, Oct 6 (Hina) - Countries with a special guest status in the Council of Europe should be granted full membership as soon as possible, Croatian Parliament vice president Zarko Domljan said today in his address to a plenary session of the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly in Strasbourg. "I believe it is to the mutual interest of these nations and the Council itself that they be granted full membership as soon as possible," Domljan said. He expressed hope that Croatia, currently with a special guest status, would soon be admitted to the Council of Europe. "I cannot see any reason why the admission of a sovereign country would be made a condition by another sovereign nation, regardless of their size," Domljan said, arguing for the admission of Latvia into the Council. Speaking of Serbia, Domljan said that it "must abandon its plan for creating a greater Serbia at the expense of other nations and their territory; it must recognize all states in the area of the former Yugoslavia within their internationally recognized borders and respect minority rights of the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, the Hungarians and Croats in Vojvodina and the Moslems in Sandjak." (hina) jas vm 062000 MET oct 94