ZAGREB, Oct 1 (Hina) - The Croatian prime minister and leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Ivica Racan, has said that the main topic of today's meeting of the ruling coalition were answers to the European Commission's
questionnaire, which he is to take to Brussels next week. The government will discuss the answers on Thursday, after which the parliament will be informed about them, Racan said this evening.
ZAGREB, Oct 1 (Hina) - The Croatian prime minister and leader of the
Social Democratic Party (SDP), Ivica Racan, has said that the main
topic of today's meeting of the ruling coalition were answers to the
European Commission's questionnaire, which he is to take to
Brussels next week. The government will discuss the answers on
Thursday, after which the parliament will be informed about them,
Racan said this evening. #L#
The PM said that the job was being completed successfully and that
it had not been disrupted by pre-election nervousness.
Asked what the change of the date of submission of Carla Del Ponte's
report to the UN from 13 to 9 October meant for Croatia, Racan said
he believed that talks with the UN war crimes tribunal's chief
prosecutor next Monday would not be of a formal nature and
irrelevant for the report.
"I believe that it is important to once again discuss open issues,
and as far as we know, there is only one such issue. I believe the
talks don't come too late," Racan said.
Racan said that the coalition today also started a discussion on the
expansion of jurisdiction in the Adriatic Sea, which would resume
tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, until the government adopted a
stand, after which it would forward its proposal to the parliament,
which should happen soon.
Asked about the position of coalition parties regarding
jurisdiction in the Adriatic, Racan said that on the one hand it was
understandable that Croatia was interested in expanding its
jurisdiction in the Adriatic to protect its economic and
environmental interests, while on the other hand, there was growing
opposition to the plan among neighbouring countries, including
Italy.
He added that the position of Brussels and the European Union was
that Croatia should not take any measures on its own. We should find
a solution which will make us less reluctant to expand
jurisdiction, but which at the same time will not damage too much
our long-term interests with regard to the EU, he said.
Racan said the issue of jurisdiction in the Adriatic would
definitely be discussed before the parliament was dissolved.
The coalition also discussed the pace of parliament's work, given
the numerous items on its agenda, and the possibility of moving
unimportant items from the agenda.
The SDP Presidency this evening held a closed-door session which
mainly focused on the election campaign. Racan also informed the
party body about his visit to London.
(hina) rml sb