OSCE DENIES STATEMENT MADE BY MINISTER RADIC

ZAGREB, Oct 18 (Hina) - The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Mission in Croatia on Monday denied an assessment of Croatian Immigration, Reconstruction and Development Minister Jure Radic on a statement made by head of the OSCE Mission to Croatia Bernard Poncet at a session of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on Thursday. According to a statement issued by the OSCE Mission, Radic held a speech in Kistanje, near the central Croatian town of Knin, on Friday in which, while evaluating progress in the implementation of the Croatian Government Return Programme, he accused the head of the OSCE Mission of malevolence and lies. The statement read that Ambassador Poncet, in his speech before the Permanent Council, stressed that the Mission had positively assessed movements in relation to the return. Poncet also noticed that many issues remained unsolved, that processes of the return of property and receiving help for the reconstruction were problematical, adding that changes to three discriminatory laws on the reconstruction were still to be made. Poncet forwarded a letter on that matter to the Croatian Prime Minister Zlatko Matesa on Monday, the statement read. (hina) it mm