DENMARK TO SUPPORT CROATIA'S ADMISSION TO COUNCIL OF EUROPE

COPENHAGEN, April 10 (Hina) - Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic met his Danish counterpart Niels Helveg Petersen in Copenhagen on Wednesday for talks on Croatia's admission to the Council of Europe. Petersen, currently the chairman of the Council of Europe's ministerial council, would back Croatia's admission if it received support from the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly on April 24, Granic told reporters after the talks. "We believe we're near the end of the process of admitting Croatia into the Council of Europe," Granic said, adding that the Danish parliament delegation to the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly announced its support for admission of Croatia to the Council of Europe. Denmark welcomed Croatia's decision to receive a long-term OSCE mission and a decision by the Croatian government to send a bill on cooperation with the Hague-based war crimes tribunal to the Croatian parliament for consideration, he said. The two ministers also discussed economic cooperation between Croatia and Denmark. Granic said that a Danish business delegation would visit Croatia later this month and that a "Days of Denmark" event would open in Croatia on October 1. Petersen said that it was very important to ensure that Croatia was integrated into Western structures. "I'm confident that the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe would accept Croatia's membership," he said. Petersen said that Croatia had particular responsibility for the Croat-Moslem Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, which he described as a key element of the US-sponsored Dayton peace accords. However, Petersen showed reserve regarding Croatia's admission to NATO's Partnership for Peace programme, saying that it was necessary to wait for the Dayton peace process to be completed first. He added that he supported a step by step approach. (hina) vm mm 101833 MET apr 96