YUGO MINISTER FOR MINORITIES MEETS CROAT AND HUNGARIAN REPS

BELGRADE, Jan 19 (Hina) - Yugoslav minister in charge of ethnic and national minorities, Rasim Ljajic, on Friday held talks with representatives of ethnic Hungarians and Croats in the northern town of Subotica. The topic of their talks was the recent threats issued against Croats and Hungarians in the region of Vojvodina. The Yugoslav minister said his visit to Subotica was a part of the new state authorities' bids to maintain the permanent communication with all ethnic and national communities in Yugoslavia, and added that the direct motive for the talks was the hate mail forwarded to Subotica Mayor Joszef Kasza on 14 January. The letter, signed by "Serb Liberation Movement", demanded from Kasza to quit the post of Subotica mayor or he would be killed. This movement also threatened to expel ethnic Hungarians from Vojvodina to "their Budapest" and "to slaughter Croats in front of their Franciscan church (in Subotica)". During the talks with Minister Ljajic, Mayor Kasza said this hate mail "is not the product of general moods, but it is the threat issued against him and all Hungarians and Croats in Vojvodina." The leader of the Democratic Alliance of Vojvodina Croats (DSVH), Bela Tonkovic, who was at the meeting, said he agreed with Minister Ljajic that the hate mail was "the continuation of nationalism of old authorities" and that it did not reflect the national atmosphere in the province. Tonkovic informed Ljajic of an initiative of Vojvodina parliament to introduce the official use of the Croatian language as part of efforts to implement the inter-state agreement reached by Belgrade and Zagreb in 1996. (hina) ms