Balkan

[CommanderR.]

CROATIA MIGHT BE INVITED TO JOIN NATO AT NEXT SUMMIT - FOREIGN MINISTER

BRUSSELS, Oct 18 (Hina) - Croatia might be invited to join NATO at the next summit of the alliance, Foreign Minister Miomir Zuzul said at NATO's headquarters in Brussels on Monday.#L#
He was speaking to reporters after talks with NATO Deputy Secretary General Alessandro Minuto Rizzo, Assistant Secretary General for Political Issues Guenter Altenburg, and U.S. Ambassador to NATO Nicholas Burns.

Zuzul said all three were very pleased with Croatia's progress in the implementation of reforms.

He went on to say that the date of the next NATO summit had still not been scheduled but might take place in 2005 or early 2006, when he added it was realistic to expect that Croatia would be invited to join the alliance.

On October 2, Croatia submitted the third national annual plan of adjustment to NATO standards which the alliance's Political Committee is due to consider on Thursday.

Zuzul said today's talks also addressed the failure to extradite General Ante Gotovina to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte is expected to submit a report on Croatia's cooperation with the U.N. court to NATO in early November, and to the U.N. Security Council on November 23.

(Hina) ha 18.10.2004. 19:16 MET

AUSTRIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WOULD LIKE TO SEE CROATIA IN E.U. IN 2007

VIENNA, Oct 19 (Hina) - The Austrian Chamber of Commerce supports Croatia's admission to the European Union together with Bulgaria and Romania in 2007, its chairman Christoph Leitl said at a press conference in Vienna on Tuesday after meeting Croatian Economy and Labour Minister Branko Vukelic.#L#
Leitl said that Croatia was Austria's important business partner and that he saw it as a factor of social stability in Southeast Europe.

Leitl said he was very satisfied with excellent bilateral economic relations and expressed hope in further promotion of cooperation in tourism. He said that Austrian companies had the chance to invest in the Croatian finance sector, construction, environmental protection services, telecommunications, and small and medium-size enterprises.

Of USD10 billion of foreign investments in Croatia, 30 per cent come from Austria, which makes it the leading foreign investor in Croatia.

Vukelic said that trade between the two countries could reach two billion euros by the end of the year, and that Croatia intended to increase its exports to Austria.

Vukelic said that Croatia would ease administrative measures in order to attract more foreign investments. He called on potential investors to invest in the production sector.

Vukelic and Leitl met at the business event "Croatian Day", organised by the two countries' chambers of commerce in cooperation with the Croatian Embassy to Vienna. It was attended by about 150 Austrian and Croatian business people.


BELGIUM READY TO ASSIST CROATIA ON EU PATH

BRUSSELS, Oct 19 (Hina) - Belgian officials in Brussels on Tuesday expressed their readiness to help Croatia draw closer to the European Union and to assist the country during the EU entry talks.#L#
I believe it is very important for Europe to integrate Croatia into the EU, which is why Belgium wants to help Croatia as much as possible, State Secretary for European Affairs in the Belgian Foreign Ministry Didier Donfut said on Tuesday after talks with Croatian European Integration Minister Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic.

Donfut and Grabar Kitarovic spoke about forms of cooperation and assistance to Croatia in negotiations with the EU on full membership.

Croatia became an EU candidate country in June, and on October 6 the European Commission revealed a pre-accession strategy, suggesting that Zagreb be given EUR245 million from pre-accession funds for the next two years.

Minister Grabar Kitarovic said the Croatian delegation presented Belgian officials with a document specifying areas in which Croatia needs assistance. She said she also informed the Belgian officials of possible problematic areas in the negotiating process.

"We asked Belgium not only for financial assistance but also for expert help," Grabar Kitarovic said.

Belgium is willing to assist Croatia through the TAIEX programme. TAIEX. is the Technical Assistance and Information Exchange unit of the European Commission. Its aim is to provide to the new member states, candidate countries, and the administrations of the Western Balkans, short-term technical assistance, in line with the overall policy objectives of the European Commission, and in the field of approximation, application and enforcement of EU legislation.

Belgium expressed its readiness to assist Croatia in the fields of judiciary, interior affairs, agriculture, food quality, social issues and labour market reform, the Croatian minister said.

Grabar Kitarovic will leave Brussels today and travel to Madrid where she will hold similar talks with her Spanish colleagues. She is also scheduled to give a talk on Croatia's European integration process and the use of pre-accession funds.

(Hina) vm 19.10.2004. 15:32 MET