CROATIAN PARLIAMENT DEPUTIES VISIT BRUSSELS LAST WEEK

( Editorial: --> 8855 ) ZAGREB, Dec 16 (Hina) - A group of Croatian parliamentary deputies on Tuesday informed the Subcommittee for Cooperation with the European Parliament about their talks in Brussels last week. The process of integration into the European Union is long and complex and it has to be treated "nearly as a national programme", subcommittee deputy chairman Zdravko Tomac of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) said in a report on the visit by the Croatian Parliament delegation to Brussels on December 7-9. The general assessment of the delegation is that for Croatia "from now on all roads (to the European Union) should lead through Brussels", Tomac said. Two main topics discussed in Brussels were prospects for accelerating the process of Croatia's integration into the EU and the degree to which European parliamentarians were willing to support its integration. The Croatian delegation held talks with Radicals, Greens and the United Left. Members of the Social Liberal Party (HSLS) held separate talks with Christian Democrats and Liberals, while SDP deputies met Social Democrats and Socialists. Only representatives of the United Left said they opposed in principle EU expansion, while representatives of all other parties expressed interest in democratic and stable Croatia, pledging assistance and expressing willingness to visit Croatia. European parliamentarians positively assessed the process of peaceful reintegration of the UN-administered Danube river region into Croatia, Croatia's policy towards Bosnia-Herzegovina, its cooperation with the Hague-based war crimes tribunal and its readiness to ensure the return of all displaced persons and to sanction crimes committed during and immediately after the war. (hina) vm mm 161938 MET dec 97