CROATIAN PRESIDENT'S CHIEF OF STAFF RECEIVES FRENCH AMBASSADOR

ZAGREB, Dec 13 (Hina) - The Croatian President's Chief of Staff, Hrvoje Sarinic, on Friday received France's Ambassador to Croatia, Jean-Jacques Gaillarde, in connection with a forthcoming visit by French President Jacques Chirac and for talks on economic relations between the two countries, the President's Office said in a statement. France expressed support for the implementation of the process of peaceful reintegration of the eastern Danube river region into Croatia's constitutional and legal system. Sarinic expressed Croatia's willingness to maintain good relations with the neighbouring countries, ruling out the possibility of any institutionalized association. In this context, Sarinic recalled a speech by President Franjo Tudjman at last Saturday's session of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) head committee where he had said that an attempt to simultaneously organize demonstrations in Belgrade, Sarajevo and Zagreb had been aimed at pressurizing Croatia to accept the regional approach, the statement concluded. (hina) vm mm 131437 MET dec 96