CROATIAN OFFICIAL HAILS BELGRADE'S READINESS TO GIVE BACK REGISTERS

ZAGREB, June 3 (Hina) - Croatian Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan Simonovic on Tuesday applauded Serbia and Montenegro's readiness to give back Croatia's land and marriages, births and deaths registers held at Belgrade's city secretariat. #L# "We applaud Serbian State Administration and Local Self-Government Minister Rodoljub Sabic's confirmation that the land and marriages, births and deaths registers are held at the Belgrade City Secretariat for General Administration and the expressed readiness to give them back," Simonovic told Hina. "We invested efforts in getting them back for many futile years, and this is truly good news," he said. Around 420 volumes of land registers and registers of marriages, births and deaths were taken from Croatia to Serbia in 1995, after the Croatian "Storm" liberation operation. The then justice minister, Arandjel Markicevic, handed them to the city secretariat, where they have stayed, Sabic told Hina today. Returning them will make it easier for citizens to which these registers pertain to exercise their status and property rights, said Simonovic. He stressed that this would also be another contribution to the normalisation of relations between Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro. Croatian Justice Minister Ingrid Anticevic Marinovic said on Monday after meeting Serbian Justice Minister Vladan Batic in Zagreb that Croatia would consider abolishing visas for Serbia and Montenegro citizens, but only after Serbia gave back the registers taken from Croatia. Batic said Tuesday that "as a sign of good will", Serbian authorities were prepared to return the registers to Croatia and would have done so even without the Croatian side's asking yesterday. (hina) lml sb