CRO AMBASSADOR TO UN: REVIVAL OF ECONOMY IS CONDITION FOR RETURN

NEW YORK, March 24 (Hina) - The Croatian Ambassador to the United Nations, Ivan Simonovic, on Thursday participated in a discussion of the United Nations Security Council on post-war, peacetime construction, disarmament, and reintegration. As an example of a successful international operation, Simonovic pointed to the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia (UNTAES) mission. He stressed that its success was the result of three factors; applied model of disarmament, security and political measures, which were shortly after taken by the international community, as well as the national strategy and policy of the peaceful reintegration led by Croatia. Simonovic said that the new Croatian Government started a broad programme of the return of refugees and that it needed international help in order to carry it out, particularly for the revival of economy. According to Simonovic, the most important thing for real reintegration and coexistence was the truth on the conflict, namely the responsibility of those who committed war crimes. Croatia will continue to fulfil its obligations towards the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in their entirety, Simonovic said. (hina) it jn