CROATIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS MEETS HIS ITALIAN COUNTERPART ( Editorial: --> 0507 )

( Editorial: --> 0507 ) ROME, 13 Nov (Hina/AR) - The visit of the Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro to Croatia in mid December would be the best proof of good Italian-Croatian relations, the Italian and Croatian Foreign Ministers Lamberto Dini and Mate Granic said during their talks in Rome Thursday. The two officials discussed international and bilateral questions. The Italian Foreign Minister was most interested in the situation in the Danube river region and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Italy wanted a strong and stable Croatia as an element of stability in the whole of the region, Dini said. Croatia's Granic presented the situation in the Danube river region and Croat-Bosniak Federation. The two officials agreed that President Scalfaro would visit Croatia. Scalfaro is the second Italian President to visit Zagreb. Francesco Cossiga was the first Italian president to visit Croatia in 1992. Granic and Dini agreed that the current Croatian-Italian relations are excellent. An agreement on friendship and cooperation, to be signed during Scalfaro's visit, would only strengthen those relations, they said. Granic also had a separate meeting with the under-secretary in the Italian Foreign Ministry, Piero Fassino. The talks focused on bilateral issues. Fassino was interested in the education of the Italian minority in Croatia, denationalization and the opening of the real estate Croatian market. Granic presented Croatia's views concerning those questions. The economic cooperation between the two countries could be improved, the two officials said. Granic and Fassino also discussed an agreement between the Italian oil company ENI and Croatia's INA, amounting to 550 billion lira, as well as other projects. (hina) rm 131345 MET nov 97