ZAGREB, Sept 18 (Hina) - Croatian Premier Ivica Racan said in parliament on Wednesday the government was considering what it could do to stop conflicts which hamper tolerance and coexistence among Croatian citizens in Udbina, Gvozd
and Dvor, but that it had not yet defined the best solution.
ZAGREB, Sept 18 (Hina) - Croatian Premier Ivica Racan said in
parliament on Wednesday the government was considering what it
could do to stop conflicts which hamper tolerance and coexistence
among Croatian citizens in Udbina, Gvozd and Dvor, but that it had
not yet defined the best solution. #L#
The government is aware that developments on the local level could
cause broader consequences, Racan said and added that his cabinet
had several means at its disposal and would decide very soon what to
do.
The Premier said this in response to the warning of a Croatian
Democratic Union (HDZ) member of parliament, Jadranka Kosor, who
said that Croats in the above-mentioned areas, i.e. formerly
occupied Croatian towns, were embittered and that the political and
security situation there was increasingly difficult.
She asserted that "a hard climate" was being created for Croats,
local authorities were changing historical data from the recent
Homeland Defence War and renaming the streets, while authorities in
Dvor did not allow the construction of a Catholic church.
Kosor called on the government to publicly condemn those
occurrences.
Racan responded that his cabinet must see which adminsitrative and
legislative measures it can take.
Asked by another HDZ MP, Karmela Caparin, whether the government
was planning to finally solve the accommodation of Bosnian Croat
refugees who moved into Knin, or whether they would be transferred
into third countries, PM Racan answered that this was a complicated
problem and he would supply her with a written answer.
He added that it would be much easier to solve the housing problems
in Knin if citizens whose houses were reconstructed would leave the
houses in which they were temporarily staying.
Asked if he had any knowledge whether Slovenia was storing nuclear
waste from the Krsko power plant in abandoned mines near the border
along the Mura river, Racan responded to Velimir Plese (HDZ) that he
would personally take the obligation to ask his Slovene
interlocutors during permanent dialogue with Ljubljana about the
exact data on the matter.
Answering to a question from Milan Kovac of the Croatian Block (HB)
about Zagreb's assistance to Bosnian Croats, Racan said the
government was preparing a comprehensive report on the help
Croatian authorities were offering to Croats in Bosnia-
Herzegovina, thus refuting allegations that incumbent authorities
did nothing to help Bosnian Croats.
Racan hopes that incumbent Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica's
statement that the Bosnian Serb entity (Republic of Srpska) was
only temporarily separated from Serbia, was used for the purposes
of his pre-election campaign. Racan added that Croatia did not
intend to answer likewise to aspirations towards another state.
War Veterans Minister Ivica Pancic announced that in the coming one
or two months the government would present a comprehensive proposal
for the resolution of the status of HVO (Bosnian Croat Defence
Council) members and families of killed HVO members. This
resolution must be fairer than the current one, Pancic said, adding
that between 1,500 and 2,000 families of killed HVO soldiers and
several thousand HVO disabled veterans remained outside the
pension system due to current solutions.