ISTRIA COUNTY STATUTE CONTINUES TO ELICIT REACTIONS

PULA, April 24 (Hina) - The passing of the Istria County Statute and Monday's decision by the Ministry of Justice, Administration and Local Self-government to suspend ten of its provisions are the subject of daily reactions. Istria County prefect Stevo Zufic told Hina on Tuesday he was "puzzled" by Justice Minister Stjepan Ivanisevic's decision, describing it as a "radical approach." "We still hold the Statute is in line with the Constitution and positive legislative provisions. However, if we have come to a point where we have to dispute, then we too shall use arguments to try to defend the contentious provisions of the Statute," Zufic added. He advocated defusing the tension in order to avert new conflicts in Istria's relations with the government. The Constitutional Court ruling will be crucial in resolving the problem, he said. The president of the Istria committee of the Croatian Democratic Union party, MP Nevio Setic, told reporters in Pazin today the Statute had brought the county into another constitutional dispute with the government. He accused the IDS (Istrian Democratic Assembly) party, the author of the Statute, of "pursuing with its violence over democracy." An under secretary at the Italian Foreign Ministry, Umberto Ranieri, said today he hoped the Croatian Constitutional Court would okay bilingualism in Istria. A decision to the contrary would be a "step backwards," he said. The Statute, adopted on April 9, introduced Croatian and Italian as official languages in six towns and 12 municipalities in the northern Adriatic peninsula. (hina) ha sb