VIENNA, Sept 21 (Hina) - The Permanent Council of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Thursday discontinued the police segment of its monitoring mission to Croatia, which included the monitoring of local
police forces in the Croatian Danube River region in the past four years.
VIENNA, Sept 21 (Hina) - The Permanent Council of the Organisation
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Thursday
discontinued the police segment of its monitoring mission to
Croatia, which included the monitoring of local police forces in
the Croatian Danube River region in the past four years. #L#
"The mandate which consisted of monitoring the work of local police
forces in the Danube River region has been discontinued and most of
the monitors currently in Croatia will have to leave by the end of
this month," Croatia's Ambassador at the Permanent Council, Mario
Nobilo, told Hina.
According to him, there are 73 OSCE police monitors in the
region currently, of whom 20 will remain by the end of October and
integrate as regular monitors and will later be reduced until the
mission is completed.
A statement, issued by the OSCE on the occasion of the
discontinuation of the Police Monitoring Group (PMG) operation,
reads the decision has been adopted on the basis of information that
the security situation in the Danube River region is stable and that
local police have been achieving constant progress in their work
for the past several months.
The statement also reads that the mandate of police monitors, which
lasted several years, has helped raise the level of competence of
the local police and that the new government has launched useful
changes in police stations.
Following the disbanding of the PMG, police monitors will continue
their mission by monitoring and evaluating the security situation
in the Danubian region and other war-stricken areas. The mission
encourages local residents to continue informing the local police
about possible incidents.
Nobilo said the discontinuation of the police segment of the OSCE
Mission to Croatia would bring the country closer to the completion
of the entire mandate of the OSCE Mission.
"They still want to see how local elections are implemented but
those are, in principle, things of less importance," the ambassador
said, adding it was possible that the OSCE would end its mission in
the foreseeable future, which would make it the first successful
mission in the world.
Since the Council of Europe ended its monitoring over Croatia two
weeks ago, this procedure, too, confirms "a new level of trust of
the international community in Croatian authorities and non-
governmental organisations," Nobilo said.
The police monitoring mission in the Danube region was established
in 1996, following the liberation operations 'Flash' and 'Storm'
and the beginning of the peaceful reintegration of the Danube River
region. The OSCE police monitors were deployed in October 1998,
after the OSCE took over the duty of monitoring Croatian police in
the area from the U.N. Police Support Group (UNPSG).
(hina) jn rml