PICULA SEES EURO INTEGRATION, DEMOCRACY AS MEANS AGAINST CONFLICT

BUDAPEST, May 30 (Hina) - To be a part of Euro-Atlantic integration structures as well as democracy are the best mechanisms for prevention of new conflicts in south eastern Europe, said Croatia's Foreign Minister Tonino Picula before the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Budapest on Tuesday. Today the Assembly accepted Croatia, with voice vote, as an associate member. Addressing the Assembly that has been in session on 26-30 May in the Hungarian capital, Croatia's Minister Picula today asserted that the best means to prevent new clashes in south eastern Europe would be to admit countries from the region into the European Union and NATO as well as to help them undergo democratisation. In this context Picula advocated the individual approach to each country in the region and opposed the so-called regional approach which would force developed countries to await less developed ones and which would also offer very less incentive for the latter. "Individual approach in the accession to the Euroatlantic institutions is the best incentive for the countries in the region to move quickly with the reforms, because the look over the border shows them what does it look and feel like when one becomes a member," the Croatian diplomat said. Picula holds that democratisation is another important mechanism for the conflict prevention in south eastern Europe, as "democracies don't fight wars against each others," according to him. Croatia's Minister cited NATO's Partnership for Peace and the Stability Pact as important mechanisms for south eastern Europe in "making countries understand the value of cooperation." The war in south eastern Europe reflected, according to Picula, "a terrifying lack of capability to prevent crises" before they spread into an armed conflict. "If there is a lesson learned from the events of the past decade, it is a fact that conflict prevention should become the most treasured discipline of the new security architecture," he said. Speaking of Croatia's example he said his country was the proof of what could be achieved by "a right combination of a desire for democracy matched with the right leadership." Six months ago Croatia was treated as a problem and today it has become a partner of the West in attempts to settle problems in south eastern Europe and Zagreb has managed to come closer to the EU and NATO, he added. "In a part of Europe that is still considered insecure and unstable Croatia seeks to be an agent of stability, a partner that will do its utmost in seeking solutions for the spread of democracy throughout the continent," Picula told the Assembly. On May 25 in Florence, Croatia signed its accession into NATO's Partnership for peace and last week the European Commission adopted a feasibility study on negotiations with Croatia on its association with the EU. Picula said Croatia viewed its membership into the Partnership for Peace as the start of "a fruitful partnership between Croatia and NATO and member countries." At the Florence meeting of NATO foreign ministers, Picula announced that in the coming weeks Zagreb would request to become a full member of NATO. Answering to questions after his speech in Budapest, Picula explained to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly the new Croatian leadership's stands on Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bosnian Croats and the Croat component of the Bosnian federal armed forces, as well as on the equal rights to the return of all refugees and the mine clearance process in Croatia. (hina) ms