LEADERS OF ITALIAN REFUGEES "ESULI" RESPOND TO ARLOVIC'S STATEMENT

ROME, Aug 3 (Hina) - The association of Italian refugees, who fled Croatia and Slovenia after Second World Two, expressed concern for ethnic Italians in Croatia following statements of a Croatian parliamentarian about the method for election of the minority representatives to Croatia's parliament. #L# The Trieste-based daily "Piccolo" on Saturday reported about reactions of some leaders of the Italian refugees to "threats" the Social Democrat bench's head Mato Arlovic forwarded to the Italian minority's representative to the Sabor, Furio Radin, when he said that a final law on minority rights might be worse than the current constitutional bill. Last Tuesday, Social Democrats argued with minority MPs and other MPs as well over whether the bill should be adopted in urgent procedure that day. The SDP remained alone in insisting on the urgent adoption, while the Sabor decided that the bill would be considered in two readings and passed in September. The discussion on the constitutional bill has been postponed for September and "we hope that the situation will have been improved until then," said the association's president, Guido Brazzoduro. According to minority MPs, Arlovic told them that in the future they (minority deputies) would be elected in the parliament through party electoral slates and not as representatives of minorities if they failed to accept the urgent procedure for the said bill. The vice president of the association, Lucio Toth, described Croatia's conduct as a sign of a lack of maturity. Toth asserted that this would further distance Croatia from Europe. Another leader, Giovanni De Pierro urged the internationalisation of the issue of the protection of the Italian minority. (hina) ms