FINLAND SUPPORTS INTEGRATION OF CROATIA INTO EUROPE - GRANIC

HELSINKI, April 11 (Hina) - Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic on Thursday concluded a day-long working visit to Finland where he held two rounds of talks with his Finnish counterpart Taria Halonen and met President Martti Ahttisaari. It was agreed that Croatia and Finland would open embassies in Helsinki and Zagreb at charge d'affaires level and that a Finnish business delegation would visit Croatia, Granic told reporters after the talks. President Ahttisaari accepted an invitation from President Tudjman to visit Croatia and Minister Halonen announced that she would visit Croatia, he said. Describing his visit as "a step forward in promoting relations between Croatia and Finland," Granic said that Finland would support Croatia's bid for entering European integration processes. "Finland is strongly present in our region, through previous peace mediation by President Ahttisaari, through a Finnish battalion within UNPROFOR and through great humanitarian assistance to Croatia and Bosnia," he said. Granic said that Finland was willing to continue to provide assistance through reconstruction of Bosnia and Croatia. (hina) vm mm 111646 MET apr 96