CROATIAN PRESIDENT MEETS GERMAN PARLIAMENT DELEGATION

ZAGREB, March 24 (Hina) - Croatian President Franjo Tudjman today received in the Presidential Palace a delegation of the German Parliament's Foreign Relations Committee, led by Committee chairman, Karl Heinz Hornheus, a Presidential Office statement said. The meeting was also attended by the German Ammbassador to Zagreb, Horst Weisel; Committee members Heinrich Lummer, Robert Antretter, Jelena Hoffmann, Gerd Poppe and Karl Hans Laermann; the deputy speaker of the Croatian Parliament's House of Representatives and chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Zarko Domljan; the deputy chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Bozidar Petrac; and the President's advisers, Zeljko Matic, Smiljko Sokol and Djordje Pribicevic. The talks focused on the origins of the crisis in the former Yugoslavia and the efforts of Croatia and international factors to bring about a peaceful settlement. President Tudjman talked about Croatia's decision to terminate the UN Protection Force mandate, saying that it had accelerated the peaceful reintegration of temporarily occupied Croatian territories into the Croatian constitutional and administrative system. The President also spoke about the implementation of the December 2, 1994 agreement, the Zagreb-Lipovac highway, the Adriatic oil pipeline, the Zagreb-Belgrade railway line and the Zagreb-Knin-Split rail and road routes. The President emphasized that Croatia supported a peaceful settlement and its recognition by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In this regard, Croatia sought support from Germany and the international community as well as support for the establsihment of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina and its confederation with Croatia. President Tudjman stressed the bonds between Croatia and Germany, emhasizing that there were a large number of Croatian citizens living and working in Germany. The President pointed out that friendship with Germany was of great importance and that Croatia was grateful to Germany for its support in Croatia being internationally recognised, the statement concluded. (hina) sd vm 241252 MET mar 95