GRANIC TO MEET ANNAN IN NEW YORK TO DISCUSS PREVLAKA

WASHINGTON, April 24 (Hina) - Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic is to meet UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan for talks in New York on Saturday afternoon, at an initiative of Croatia. This ad hoc meeting should be used as an occasion to convey Croatia's stands on the recent incursion of the Yugoslav army into the demilitarised area near the border between Croatia and Montenegro (the smaller republic of Yugoslavia). After it demanded the withdrawal in a letter forwarded to the UN Security Council, Croatia will resolutely ask that the armed forces immediately leave the blue and yellow zone, Granic said prior to the talks. As the Security Council is expecting that the Secretary-General inform it about the situation in Prevlaka, Minister Granic will acquaint Annan in detail with the reliable data possessed by Croatia about the deployment of the Yugoslav army in the area under the control of UN monitors. Granic reiterated that NATO's summit in Washington and all official documents demanded that Yugoslavia should immediately withdraw its soldiers. The Alliance considers it as a possible threat of the spill-over of the conflict, the Croatian minister added. Croatia received commendations after it reacted level-headedly to the provocation of the Yugoslav army and the obvious breach of Security Council's resolutions and asked the response through UN instruments and bodies. Granic will use the meeting with Annan to discuss Prevlaka from the point of view of UNMOP and to advocate permanent solution which should be reached as soon as possible, based on the known views that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Croatia is not brought into question and that Prevlaka is only a security issue. The two will also consider the situation in the south-east of Europe. (hina) ms