VUKOVAR, Nov 12 (Hina) - There has been a significant leap forward in the process of peaceful reintegration of the Danube River Region in eastern Croatia, United States Ambassador to Croatia William Montgomery said in Vukovar on
Friday, pointing out currently the biggest problem in the process was the poor state of the economy.
VUKOVAR, Nov 12 (Hina) - There has been a significant leap forward
in the process of peaceful reintegration of the Danube River Region
in eastern Croatia, United States Ambassador to Croatia William
Montgomery said in Vukovar on Friday, pointing out currently the
biggest problem in the process was the poor state of the
economy.#L#
The Article 11 Commission, of which Montgomery is member, today
visited eastern Croatia as part of the marking of the fourth
anniversary of the signing of the Erdut Agreement, which regulates
the area's peaceful reintegration with the rest of Croatia.
The Commission was established by the Agreement's Article 11, and
its task is to monitor agreement implementation.
The Commission today met with members of the National Trust
Establishment Committee and the government's Commission for
Detained and Missing Persons.
The peaceful reintegration process helped make a significant step
forward in the implementation of the Erdut Agreement, but there is
still much to do, Montgomery said after the meeting.
The biggest problem currently obstructing relations in the Danube
River Region is the area's poor economic situation, he pointed
out.
The U.S. ambassador said the international community would prevent
from acting those forces which advocate the non-implementation of
the Erdut Agreement.
According to Tomislav Vidosevic, head of the government Office for
Cooperation With the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE), today's Article 11 Commission visit was part of
usual procedure.
The Croatian government, and the Interior Ministry in particular,
were commended for high quality cooperation with OSCE Mission
police observers, Vidosevic said.
He assessed as significant the Commission's interest in
difficulties in economy, "the revival of which is connected to the
key problems in the Croatian Danube River Region."
The Article 11 Commission today also met with representatives of
the Joint Council of local Serb-majority municipalities and the
Serb Independent Democratic Party.
Council chairman Milos Vojnovic said the reintegration process so
far moved on a scale from "strongly positive to unfavourable in some
segments."
He announced local Serb representatives would continue working on
co-existence and advocate restoration of trust regardless.
The Article 11 Commission today also met the wives of imprisoned
members of the so called Sodolovci Group, who urged the Commission
to act for a speedy and fair trial for their husbands.
Members of the Commission today lay wreaths at the site of the
Ovcara mass grave near Vukovar, where are buried the bodies of 200
patients and soldiers killed after the former Yugoslav People's
Army broke into Vukovar.
(hina) ha jn