SEMINAR ON SUBREGIONAL COOPERATION HELD IN ZAGREB ( Editorial: --> 2692 )

( Editorial: --> 2692 ) ZAGREB, Nov 21 (Hina) - A seminar on subregional cooperation and integration of Central and Eastern European countries took place in Zagreb on Friday. The seminar, organised by the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI) and the Croatian Institute for International Relations (IMO), gathered experts from Croatia and all over Europe, particularly from EADI members. It was opened by EADI president Helen O'Neill and IMO director Mladen Stanicic. Croatia's ambassador to Belgium and former presidential foreign policy adviser, Zeljko Matic, said in his opening remarks that countries in transition most often regarded subregional integration as a stage on their way to the European Union and other influential European associations. In establishing such cooperation the most important questions are "who will go with whom and to what degree they will associate", Matic said. Darko Bekic, Croatian ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, said initiatives launched by the international community for regional cooperation in South-Eastern Europe were more motivated by security and political concerns than by economic reasons. (hina) vm jn 211605 MET nov 97