VOJVODINA SHOULD BE GIVEN BACK AUTONOMY - AUSTRIAN DIPLOMAT

BELGRADE, Oct 31 (Hina) - Austria's secretary-general for external policy Albert Rohan said on Wednesday after meeting Yugoslav state officials that Vojvodina had to be given back the autonomy it had been stripped of in the 1980s as soon as possible and that a multiethnic Kosovo was what the international community wanted. Addressing a news conference at the Austrian embassy in Belgrade, Rohan said the purpose of his visit to Vojvodina was to gather information about problems in this northern Yugoslav province and report to the European Union about it. The Austrian official said Vojvodina was faced with an unsolved problem of autonomy, and stressed the issue in question in the province was not separatism but "fiscal and economic autonomy". Minorities in Vojvodina believe their requests can be realised only in an autonomous Vojvodina and not in a centralised state, Rohan said. During last week's visit to Kosovo, Rohan told ethnic Albanian leaders violence against Kosovo Serbs was impermissible and called on Kosovo Serbs to participate in the upcoming general elections as their non-participation would be a wrong tactic. Kosovo Albanians should not make the mistake of considering the elections as a step towards independence. The international community opposes Kosovo's independence, he said. (hina) rml