MONTENEGRO ADAMANT THAT BORDER CROSSINGS WITH CRO REMAIN OPEN

BELGRADE, Jan 30 (Hina) - A senior official of the Montenegrin ruling Democratic Socialist Party said on Saturday that Montenegro would not close border crossings toward Croatia, despite demands of the government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) consisting of Serbia and Montenegro. In his interview with the Belgrade-based daily "Glas javnosti", the party official, Miodrag Vukovic, described the demand of the FRY government as a "propaganda move like the decision to expel William Walker." Vukovic added that the Montenegrin government on Wednesday assessed that borders of this republic were safe and that the border crossing with Croatia at Debeli Brijeg "is functioning without any problem." He said Montenegro had lost about 90 million dollars during the past year due to the closure of the border toward Croatia. Vukovic told the daily that Serbian border crossings toward Croatia had been solved with no problem, while the attempts to find a solution to the issue of Debeli Brijeg were protracted. On Thursday the Yugoslav government said the agreement between the Croatian and Montenegrin interior ministries on the opening of two border crossings (Konfin and Debeli Brijeg) was illegal and contrary to the FRY constitution. The FRY government asked Montenegrin authorities to revoke a decision to open those border crossings. (hina) ms