OSIJEK COUNTY PREFECT MEETS OSCE COMMISSIONER FOR MINORITIES

OSIJEK, June 4 (Hina) - Osijek-Baranja County Prefect Branimir Glavas on Friday discussed the political and economic situation in the county and the process of return with the Organisation or Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) high commissioner for national minorities, Max van der Stoel. The security-political situation in the county is 'relatively stable', which has enabled the county authorities to turn to solving economic problems, Glavas said. He expressed satisfaction with the return process, adding a problem which remained to be solved was securing jobs for the returnees. The head of the county office for education and culture, Ksenija Zbozil, corrected the false information the OSCE official had about the situation in the school system in the Croatian Danube River region, a statement issued by the county authorities said. Croatia has met all criteria from the European Charter on Minority Languages, and enabled its minorities to exercise all of their rights, especially those concerning the school system. "Zbozil warned about the irregularities in the work of OSCE Mission members, which were probably the reason why van der Stoel was misinformed", the statement said. Prefect Glavas asked the OSCE official to help in solving the problem of the election of a new deputy prefect of Serb nationality. The Joint Council of (Serb-dominated) Municipalities is opposing the election of Bosko Jancic, Glavas said. He informed van der Stoel about the election procedure conducted by the county assembly, adding he believed Jancic should be an acceptable solution both for the Serb ethnic community and the Croatian state because of his experience in the field of economy. (hina) jn rml