ZAGREB, Apr 7 (Hina) - A spokesman for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Mission to Croatia on Wednesday told reporters in Zagreb NATO's air strikes on neighbouring Yugoslavia have not significantly
affected the overall security situation in the Danube river region in eastern Croatia. The OSCE Mission is normally continuing with its work in the area, spokesman Peter Palmer said. The NATO action resulted only in the closing of some border crossings, and reduced border traffic. The OSCE assessed the security situation was peaceful in Croatia's Danubian region, an area occupied by the former Yugoslav federal army in 1991 and reintegrated last year into Croatia's constitutional and legal system with international assistance. The situation in March was not much different than previously; there were 74 ethnically motivated incidents which, Palmer
ZAGREB, Apr 7 (Hina) - A spokesman for the Organisation for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Mission to Croatia on Wednesday
told reporters in Zagreb NATO's air strikes on neighbouring
Yugoslavia have not significantly affected the overall security
situation in the Danube river region in eastern Croatia.
The OSCE Mission is normally continuing with its work in the area,
spokesman Peter Palmer said.
The NATO action resulted only in the closing of some border
crossings, and reduced border traffic.
The OSCE assessed the security situation was peaceful in Croatia's
Danubian region, an area occupied by the former Yugoslav federal
army in 1991 and reintegrated last year into Croatia's
constitutional and legal system with international assistance.
The situation in March was not much different than previously;
there were 74 ethnically motivated incidents which, Palmer said,
was less than the 102 registered in February.
The OSCE spokesman praised the local police for solving the
instances of mainly ethnically motivated intimidation at schools.
He said such police performance encouraged the OSCE, adding such
cases should be dealt with by the Trust Establishment Committee.
The OSCE welcomed the Croatian government's decision to extend
until May the deadline for the submission of reconstruction
assistance requests. Palmer pointed out the extension would not be
of much value without an accompanying media campaign to which the
Croatian government committed in a reconstruction programme.
The spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) Mission to Croatia, Andrej Mahecic, at today's regular
weekly press conference focused on the Kosovo crisis.
He reiterated information about the disastrous situation Kosovo
Albanian refugees face under Serbian terror and pointed out the
number of refugees has risen to 460,000.
Mahecic said it was impossible to confirm via independent sources
the authenticity of witnesses' reports of horrific crimes
committed by Serb military and paramilitary units.
He cited as indicative the report that on Monday, the Serb police at
the Qafa Prushit border crossing with Albania threatened foreign
reporters it would open fire on them if they approached the
refugees, and ordered the staff of humanitarian organisations to
retreat 500m from the crossing.
Mahecic told reporters Croatia's Caritas, in cooperation with the
UNHCR, had collected one million US dollars worth of humanitarian
aid for Albania. Half the aid, which includes food, tents, and
blankets, will be transferred to Albanian capital Tirana by
helicopters of the Belgian army, while the other half will be
delivered by ship and should reach Albania next week.
The UNHCR was forced to withdraw its personnel from Yugoslavia due
to the situation in that country, which resulted in an interruption
of the refugee return process from Yugoslavia to Croatia. Mahecic
said the last convoy was organised on March 25, and the number of
returnees in the last fortnight did not exceed 18.
(hina) ha jn