CENTRE FOR SUPPORT IN IMPLEMENTATION OF ARMS CONTROL AGREEMENTS TO START OPERATING IN NOVEMBER

ZAGREB, Sept 20 (Hina) - The Zagreb-based regional headquarters for assistance in the implementation of international arms control agreements (RACVIAC) will start operating in November, members of RACVIAC's multinational advisory group said in Zagreb on Wednesday. The headquarters is a project within the Stability Pact for South- East Europe, and its purpose is the education of members of national verification centres, who will be verifying arms control agreements in South-East European countries, and the strengthening of dialogue and cooperation in the region, Zoran Milanovic, representative of the Croatian Foreign Ministry, said after a two- day seminar of the advisory group in Zagreb. The headquarters, located at the Rakitje army barracks in Zagreb, will be opened on October 20, after which concrete projects will be launched, said German general Hans Huebner, the president of the advisory group and head of the German army verification headquarters. Attending the Zagreb meeting were representatives from Albania, Austria, Bosnia, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Hungary, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Germany, Romania, Russia, the United States, Slovenia, Turkey and Great Britain, as well as from the Secretariat of the Stability Pact Special Coordinator. "Participating in the RACVIAC project are all of Croatia's neighbour-countries except Yugoslavia, which for the time being is not included due to the current political regime of President Slobodan Milosevic," said Croatia's representative in the advisory group and Assistant Defence Minister for defence policy, Ivan Kozlica. The RACVIAC project was initiated by the German government and adopted by the Croatian government at a meeting of the Stability Pact Working Table III, held in Sarajevo in February. The purpose of the Working Table III is to provide support in the implementation of Articles II, IV and V of the Dayton agreement, establish trust and security, cooperation and good neighbourly relations between South-East European countries. RACVIAC's activities also include providing information on commitments taken over with international agreements on arms control, assistance in their full application, preparation of interested countries in the region for joining current agreements, discussions about steps which should be taken on the national level etc. Croatia provides the headquarters with offices and infrastructure and its future financing and part of its permanent staff will be secured by other member-countries, Kozlica said. He added that the advisory assembly would supervise the headquarters' operation, but it would not have executive powers or encroach upon national obligations of member-countries, which are envisaged by international agreements such as the Vienna Agreement of 1994. (hina) rml