VIEWS ON AMENDING ISTRIA COUNTY STATUTE VARY

ZAGREB, Oct 23 (Hina) - Istria County and the Justice, Administration and Local Self-Government Ministry have not managed to harmonise views about amending all 13 contentious provisions of the county Statute, the ministry reported on Tuesday. Of the 13 items, the only moot point remains the suggestion that the expression that learning the Italian language "will be ensured" as a language of a society and members of other nationalities in municipalities and towns where Italians make up a majority of residents, be changed to the expression "will be made possible". The Istria County Assembly refused the proposal and was adamant to retain the original expression, although it did agree that the learning of the Italian language should be optional and not mandatory, as the contested and suspended Statute provision stated. If the two sides reach an agreement and remove the last obstacle the harmonised Statute provisions should be adopted by the Istria County Assembly, after which the Ministry would suggest to the government to withdraw its request to assess whether the Statute is in line with the Constitution. Should this happen, the dispute of several months between the government and Istria County which began when the Statute was adopted by the Assembly in April, would finally end. (hina) lml sb