STATEMENTS BY ECONOMIC AGREEMENT'S SIGNATORIES

ZAGREB, Dec 2 (Hina) - After this morning's ceremony of signing the economic agreement at UNPROFOR headquarters in Zagreb, the signatories gave public statements. Head of the Croatian Government delegation for talks with representatives of Serbs from occupied Croatian areas (UNPAs), Hrvoje Sarinic said it was one more step towards a peaceful resolution of the problem on UNPAs, "a move to the third stage on which a political solution should be reached". He said the mere act of signing would have no sense if the agreement were not implemented. Sarinic stressed that Croatia would not extend the UNPROFOR's mandate if the agreement did not begin to be implemented until 20 January. Sarinic emphasized this agreement protected "all Croatian vital interests" and that it did not jeopardize the sovereignty of the Republic of Croatia in UNPAs. Estimating Croatia's achievements in the agreement, Sarinic said that "taking note of the entire situation, this was acceptable" and that "it was the maximum we could get". The International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia (ICFY) Co-Chairman, Thorvald Stoltenberg, stressed the political importance of the economic agreement. ICFY Co-Chairman David Owen said the agreement was good and expressed optimism regarding its implementation. U.S. Ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith stressed that the agreement was the second stage of the Z-4 process which consisted of three stages and the goal of which was to peacefully reintegrate UNPAs into Croatia. Galbraith said the third stage was now to be approached, which meant the reaching of a political agreement. He announced that a draft political agreement by Z-4 group had been finished yesterday and that it would be proposed to the two sides not on the 'take it or leave it' basis, but as a foundation for talks. Russian Ambassador to Croatia Leonid Kerestedzhiyants said after this signing things were to follow the right direction. He was optimistic regarding the implementation of the agreement and said it could be the basis for further steps. (hina) mar ks mms 021409 MET dec 94