VUKOVAR MARKS ITS DAY

VUKOVAR, May 3 (Hina) - The Vukovar town council on Saturday held a special session to mark the town's day and the day of its patron saints Philip and Jacob. #L# Council president Pilip Karaula said the town authorities were optimistic with regard to Vukovar's future despite many problems hampering its reconstruction and development. Karaula complained about the non-functioning of the rule of law and the inefficiency and lack of many state inspections. He also voiced dissatisfaction with the slow privatisation of companies and the purchase of formerly state-owned flats, stating that nobody had yet been tried for war crimes committed during the Serb aggression and occupation of Vukovar. "The international community need not worry. The Serb minority will not be denied its rights guaranteed by law, but we will certainly not tolerate Croat children being denied the right to education in the Croatian language, which is now happening in some schools," Karaula said. Vukovar mayor Vladimir Stengl criticised the county authorities for county institutions not having entirely returned to Vukovar from Vinkovci. Today's session also saw the presentation of awards to prominent citizens, institutions and associations promoting the town's development. U.S. General Jacques Paul Klein, temporary administrator in the Croatian Danube River region during the U.N. mandate there, was declared an honorary citizen of Vukovar. Klein sent a letter of apology for his inability to attend the session. He will be presented a diploma declaring him an honorary citizen in late June. (hina) rml sb