MP COMMENTS ON CROATIAN-ITALIAN RELATIONS

RIJEKA, Jan 21 (Hina) - Croatian-Italian relations in the coming period prior to the election in northern Italy will be strained by the so-called optants' issue, Istrian Democratic Assembly president and MP Damir Kajin told journalists on Tuesday. #L# He pointed out that these relations were important to Croatia because of its application for membership in the European Union. According to official records, following World War II, about 186,000 people emigrated from Croatia, of whom about 150,000 were so-called optants, Kajin said. The former Yugoslavia obliged itself to pay out US$122 million in compensation to these people for their property on Yugoslav territory. This was later settled with $120 million in war damages Italy was to pay to Yugoslavia. As a result, the optants can seek compensation only in Rome, Kajin believes. He added that about $35 million in reparation for property in the post-war period in the so-called Trieste Free Zone, which for a time was under ex-Yugoslavia's jurisdiction, should be paid by Croatia or compensated in some other way. By the same token, if someone after WWII revoked their Yugoslav citizenship yet their property was nationalised should also be compensated, he said. Reflecting on a dispute between the Italian Union and the National University in Trieste, Kajin said that the Union had a representative status that it gained fighting for minority rights in Croatia. Trieste's politics to transform the Union to have it represent that Italian town's interests will directly damage the Italian community and contribute to its assimilation, he said. Asked by reporters what the results were of an agreement on co- operation signed in 1997 by the IDS and the Italian Union, Kajin said these were contained in the Status of Istria County, according to which the Italian community has the right to participate in the work of all county bodies. (hina) sp/ha sb