Berlin - Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said Wednesday that he would hold fresh talks with Slovenia later this month in a bid to resolve the border dispute between the two neighbours.

The meeting would be with Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor, Sanader told a news conference after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.

The two leaders met recently but failed to achieve a breakthrough on the border issue, which dates back to 1991 when the two republics declared independence from Yugoslavia.

Belgrade - Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader visited Belgrade Friday in a bid to thaw relations which Serbia froze over Zagreb's recognition of Kosovo.

Sanader and Serbian Premier Mirko Cvetkovic acknowledged the problems burdening bilateral ties since the conflict last decade and even before, but said they were willing to work for better relations.

"We expect some issues to be resolved quickly and that some we will begin resolving in the future," Sanader told reporters after meeting Cvetkovic.

Zagreb - Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader on Wednesday welcomed the European Union's decision to name the target date for Croatia's completion of accession talks as its "international affirmation."

"That is that path, from first free elections, over referendum on independence, defence of the country and victory in the fatherland war, reconstruction and, finally, to international affirmation of Croatia," he said, referring to the period since his country split from former Yugoslavia in 1991.

Zagreb  - Prime Minister Ivo Sanader fired two of his ministers and the police chief in the wake of the latest mafia-style slaying in Croatia, but was still facing nationwide outrage on Tuesday.

A killer, armed with a pistol equipped with a silencer, shot dead Ivana Hodak, 28, daughter of politically prominent parents, in her apartment and then fled. The murder took place in a building in downtown Zagreb, barely 100 metres from police headquarters.

As many times before, a massive manhunt was launched, involving police barricades, commandos with automatic rifles on display and the questioning of some 30 people - but in the end, no arrests.

Zagreb - Croatian Premier Ivo Sanader, shocked by the murder of the daughter of a prominent political couple, Monday evening sacked two ministers and the country's chief of police and declared a war on the mafia.

Sanader said he was sacking Interior Minister Berislav Roncevic and Justice Minister Ana Lovrin and would also fire the chief of police.

His announcement followed the murder earlier in the day of a daughter of prominent lawyer Zvonir Hodak and former deputy premier Ljerka Mintas Hodak in her house in Zagreb.

Zagreb  - Though the European Union has found itself in a "certain crisis" following Ireland's rejection of the Lisbon treaty, Croatia has full support for its membership, Prime Minister Ivo Sanade