CROATIAN FOREIGN MINISTER RECEIVES BOSNIAN AMBASSADOR

( Editorial: --> 4053 ) ZAGREB, Feb 23 (Hina) - Croatian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mate Granic on Monday received the outgoing Bosnia- Herzegovina Ambassador to Croatia Kasim Trnka, the Croatian Foreign Ministry said. Granic thanked Trnka for his three and a half years of cooperation, during which he fulfilled his mandate as Ambassador. In this period important shifts were made in relations between the two countries, Granic added. The Croatian Foreign Minister repeated that Croatia was waiting for the Bosnian Presidency to accept the already coordinated agreement on the establishment of an inter-state council for cooperation between Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and to deliver a decision on the opening of a Croatian consulate in Banja Luka. Croatia was also waiting for the Croat-Muslim Federation of Bosnia- Herzegovina (FBH) to finally confirm the composition of its delegation so that negotiations could start on an agreement on the establishment of special relations between Croatia and the FBH and on the use of the port of Ploce, southern Croatia, and passage through Neum, southern Bosnia-Herzegovina, Granic added. Trnka announced that it was expected the FBH's negotiating team for these issues would be formed soon. The Bosnian Ambassador handed a harsh protest from the Bosnian Embassy in Zagreb, which demanded an explanation of several historical judgements made by Croatian President Franjo Tudjman in his speech at the fourth general convention of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) on 21 February. Granic said Bosnian Foreign Minister Jadranko Prlic told him this morning that the note of protest was the personal position of Bosnian Presidency chairman Alija Izetbegovic and not of the Bosnian Presidency nor of the Bosnian Foreign Ministry. The Croatian Foreign Minister precisely repeated Croatia's basic standpoints regarding its policy towards Bosnia-Herzegovina, saying that the citations included in the Bosnian Embassy's note related to parts of President Tudjman's speech taken out of context and wrongly interpreted. Granic cautioned Trnka on the fact that it was by far easier to observe that the highest HDZ officials, headed by President Tudjman, at the party's fourth general convention talked about overall relations between Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, especially the FBH, and the need for the functioning of Bosnia on the principles of the Washington and Dayton agreements, which undoubtedly represented continued contribution by Croatia to the establishment of better links, the Croatian Foreign Ministry statement said. (Hina) mm mb 231803 MET feb 98