DJAPIC DISMISSES ACCUSATIONS REGARDING SERB RETURNEES

ZAGREB, Dec 1 (Hina) - Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) leader Anto Djapic said on Monday that the allegations that the HSP supported a ban on the return of Serb refugees to Croatia and that it wanted their property to be confiscated were "taken out of context". #L# Djapic was referring to the statement by Croatian People's Party (HNS) vice-president Radimir Cacic, who said last week that the participation of the HSP in a future government was unacceptable, because that party "has announced on its web pages that it will ban Serbs from returning and will confiscate their property." Cacic's statement has been dismissed by HSP secretary-general Vlado Jukic as "an insinuation by those who lost the elections." The HSP official Internet site says that "the full safety of work and stay in the liberated areas may be achieved only (...) by preventing the return of all Serbs who fled after the liberation operations of the Croatian Army." The document entitled "A Vision of a New Croatia" reads that the HSP supports negotiations with Serbia on war reparations and that "a portion of war reparations can be immediately paid through the confiscation of (movable and immovable) property of physical and legal persons from Serbia." Djapic told Hina that the document had been written following the 1995 Operation Storm when the HSP was concerned about security and "feared the return of those who were involved in the rebellion against Croatia and who attempted to undermine its constitutional order." The HSP leader said "the whole story is out of date," adding that his party's position on minorities was clear and that it adhered to the Constitutional Law on the Rights of National Minorities. "Cacic's statement was taken out of context. Not even the European Union considers this to be a problem," Djapic said. (hina) vm sb