BOSNIAN PEASANTS' PARTY EXPECTS STRONGER CROATIAN ASSISTANCE

SARAJEVO, Dec 19 (Hina) - Bosnia's Croatian Peasants' Party (HSS BH) expects Croatia will increase its assistance to the Croats in Bosnia, the president of the party and co-chairman of the Bosnian parliament's House of Nations, Ilija Simic, said on Wednesday, briefing reporters about a Bosnian parliamentary delegation's recent visit to Zagreb. He said the Croatian parliament would probably ratify an agreement with Bosnia on the southern Croatian seaport of Ploce in January. Croatia's officials supported just and quality solutions for Bosnia's upcoming constitutional changes, Simic added. He stressed the Bosnian Croat benches in the state and the federation's parliaments would stick to their demand that the Bosnian Serb entity form a House of Nations which will guarantee the full respect of national rights. Simic maintains Croatia's officials have not been vociferous enough in supporting Bosnian Croats, probably for fear of being accused of interfering in a neighbouring country's internal affairs. He reminded of Croatia's constitutional obligation to care for the Bosnian Croat people, which he asserts would successfully cure the anxiety Croats in Bosnia feel as the least numerous people in Bosnia. The president of the Croatian Peasants' Party, Zlatko Tomcic, promised his party would actively support HSS BH in the period leading to Bosnia's autumn elections, Simic said. (hina) ha sb