CROATIAN FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS BULGARIAN PRESIDENT, PREMIER

SOFIA, July 16 (Hina) - Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic met Bulgarian President Petre Stoyanov on the second day of his official visit to Sofia on Wednesday for talks on bilateral cooperation and relations in Southeastern Europe. "There is a great interest in exchanging experiences and promoting the economic cooperation," Granic told reporters after the talks. "The basic strategic orientation of both Croatia and Bulgaria includes internal democratic development, economic reforms and Euro- Atlantic integration," he said. Granic said that their talks focused on reforms and the assistance of international organisations in that process. Economic cooperation was also the main topic of Granic's talks with Bulgarian Prime Minister Ivan Kostov. "We have agreed that we will begin negotiations on free trade, a cultural cooperation agreement and the promotion of cooperation in traffic. We have agreed to establish even firmer ties between our chambers of commerce and business people," Granic said. (hina) vm 161138 MET jul 97