TRUST ESTABLISHMENT COMMITTEE REPS MEET COMMISSION ARTICLE 11

ZAGREB, Sept 14 (Hina) - The National Trust Establishment Committee and the Commission Article 11 on Tuesday in Zagreb discussed the process of restoring trust, the process of return to the Croatian Danube River region and related problems. The Commission Article 11 is an international body which supervises the implementation of the Erdut Agreement on the peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danube River region. It holds regular meetings with the National Trust Establishment Committee, with whom it exchanges opinions and points to certain problems or events. Today's meeting was held at the request of the Commission Article 11. "We have exchanged opinions regarding the further process of establishing trust and normalising life in the Croatian Danube River region, with special emphasis on the recent events regarding the Berak murder", said the Committee's president Vesna Skare Ozbolt, adding the Committee "has taken a very clear stand toward the murder and condemned it". It will not be tolerated for such cases to threaten all that has been achieved in the process of reintegration, said Skare Ozbolt, adding the meeting also discussed radical statements "whether they are coming from the Croatian Party of Rights or the Serb side". According to Skare Ozbolt, the Committee would continue "working very actively in the field, especially now that the elections are near". "Regardless of the election campaign... what has been achieved in the process of peaceful reintegration cannot be jeopardised in any case", she stressed. US Ambassador William Montgomery said on behalf of the Commission Article 11 the meeting was an opportunity for his delegation to express concern about the current situation and listen to the stands of different members of the Trust Establishment Committee. "I believe it was necessary to hold a meeting like this one especially now that we are entering a period of heightened tension (election campaigning), when there is a political risk that what the National Committee has achieved may be jeopardised, especially by some political factors or individual parties which, regretfully, are taking care neither about the activities of the National Trust Establishment Committee nor about the commitments envisaged by the Croatian legislation", said the president of the Serb National Council (SNV) and a member of the National Trust Establishment Committee, Milorad Pupovac. According to Pupovac, what needs to be done is to concentrate "on those mechanisms which contribute to stabilising trust itself, which means stabilising safety, judiciary, and the overall atmosphere of tolerance". (hina) jn rml