CROATIAN AMBASSADOR COMMENTS ON ANNAN'S REPORT ON PREVLAKA

NEW YORK, Jan 8 (Hina) - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is clearly aware of problems in Prevlaka but what he is suggesting is not enough to successfully solve them, Croatia's Permanent Representative at the U.N., Ivan Simonovic, said in New York on Friday. In a statement given to Hina on the occasion of UN Secretary General's report on the implementation of the U.N. Mission of Observers in Prevlaka (UNMOP), Simonovic said the report was "well- intentioned but incomplete". Annan was "avoiding to clearly define the causes" of the stalemate in the talks between Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, he added. Simonovic also believed that the meaning of UN mediation in those talks was questionable if the UN was not ready to face the key problem - Belgrade's stalling and unwillingness to respect Croatia's internationally recognised borders. If it clear where the border was at the time of the disintegration of the former Yugoslav state, then there is no reason for international arbitration, Simonovic said. One can come closer to a solution to this problem only if the Security Council adopts a resolution unambiguously confirming that the issue of Prevlaka is exclusively a security matter and that Prevlaka is an integral part of Croatia's territory, Simonovic said. Croatia wants the U.N. to reduce the number of observers in Prevlaka (currently 28), which would demonstrate its intention to complete their mission soon, the Croatian ambassador said. (hina) mm rml