58,200 SERBS HAVE RETURNED TO CROATIA SO FAR - GRANIC

ZAGREB, June 4 (Hina) - The return of all Croatian citizens is in Croatia's interest, Foreign Minister Mate Granic said on Friday, following a meeting with his Norwegian counterpart and chairman of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Knut Vollebaek. "I have informed Minister Vollebaek that 58,200 Croatian Serbs have so far returned to Croatia from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republika Srpska, and from the Croatian Danube River region to other parts of Croatia. This is the latest figure published a week ago", Granic said. "It is well known that only 250 Croats have returned to the Republika Srpska so far", he added. The return of all Croatian citizens on a voluntary basis is in Croatia's interest, and this marks its strength and stability, Granic said. "That process is progressing without any major problems on the state level. There are problems on the local level because it is not easy to re-establish trust after everything that happened in 1991 and the mass crimes", Granic said, adding Croatia wanted to see all areas of return become stable as soon as possible because their stability would "facilitate the development of Croatia's economy and its joining Euro-Atlantic integration processes". "We believe it would be one of those processes which would speed up Croatia's integration into European associations", the Croatian foreign minister concluded. (hina) rml