CROATIAN PRIME MINISTER MEETS BELGIAN COUNTERPART IN BRUSSELS

BRUSSELS, Oct 9 (Hina) - Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan began a day-long visit to Brussels on Thursday with a meeting with his Belgian counterpart, Guy Verhofstadt. #L# A joint press conference scheduled to take place after the meeting was cancelled. Belgium confirmed that the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between Croatia and the European Union would be ratified by the parliament of Flanders by the end of the year, Croatian government spokeswoman Sanja Kos said. The Flemish parliament is one of Belgium's seven parliaments that ratify international treaties under the constitution. The other parliaments have already ratified Croatia's agreement with the EU. Belgium has announced it will support the approval of EU pre- admission programmes for Croatia, Kos said. On the subject of cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Racan expressed satisfaction with the recent visit of chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte to Zagreb and the statement she made then, the spokeswoman said. The Croatian prime minister is also due to meet the EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, and the European Commission President, Romano Prodi, to whom he will present Croatia's answers to the European Commission questionnaire. (hina) vm