SERB PEOPLE'S PARTY POINTS TO STANDSTILL IN REFUGEE RETURNS

ZAGREB, Dec 23 (Hina) - The Serbs' return is not proceeding in keeping with the programme for the return of and care for Croatia's displaced persons and refugees, Serb People's Party (SNS) president Milan Djukic told reporters in Zagreb on Thursday. "There is a lack of political will for it," Djukic asserted, and added the SNS was entering the new political period in Croatia, following parliamentary elections in January, with a certain amount of doubt. Djukic said the SNS wanted to acquaint the Croatian public with the said problem by election day, January 3, because, he added, the new government will not be able to side-step the open issues. Djukic said one of the reasons for the standstill in the realisation of the Serbs' return programme was, among else, the fact that there were attempts to convince the public that Serbs themselves wanted to leave Croatia, and because the exodus was called an act of will. The return process has become a dead letter, the temporary owner is not able to return or given alternate accommodation, deeds of title are required, and the right to citizenship, the elementary precondition for the return, belongs to a set of discriminatory laws, said Djukic. He also mentioned the non-application of a quality abolition law and rigged trials as other obstacles to the return process. (hina) ha