OPEN PANEL ON FRY'S FUTURE HELD IN STRASBOURG

STRASBOURG, Nov 23 (Hina) - The president of the Democratic Alliance of Croats in the northern Yugoslav province of Vojvodina, Bela Tonkovic, on Monday spoke about the rights of minorities, at the Open Panel on the Future of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, held in Strasbourg. The three-day-long panel was attended by about 60 representatives of Belgrade's non-government organisations for human rights, Serb opposition parties, as well as representatives of Montenegrin authorities, national minorities in the FRY, reporters and editors of Yugoslav independent media. Tonkovic elaborated a document of the Democratic Alliance of Croats called "fundamentals for solving the Croatian issue in the FRY". He said that 160,000 Croats live in the FRY nowadays, mostly in Vojvodina and Boka Kotorska (southern Adriatic). According to him, Croats' rights and the national minority status in the FRY have not yet been recognised. In line with an agreement on the normalisation of relations between the FRY and the Republic of Croatia, signed by the FRY in 1997, the FRY is obliged to ensure the Croatian national minority all rights granted by the international law. "Legitimate representatives of the Croat national minority on several occasions urged the FRY Government and the Government of the Republic of Serbia to fulfil the obligation, however, without success", Tonkovic said. The Open Panel in Strasbourg did not end by the passing of a final document. The discussion will be summarised in a report, which will be delivered to all participants and the Council of Europe, as well as other interested international organisations and institutions. (hina) it mm