SIMONOVIC: RESOLUTION ON PREVLAKA IS PRESSURE ON YUGOSLAVIA

( Editorial: --> 4524 ) WASHINGTON, Jan 14 (Hina) - The Croatian Ambassador to the United Nations, Ivan Simonovic, on Wednesday welcomed the Security Council's decision to extend the mandate of military observers at Prevlaka as a form of pressure on Belgrade to negotiate on a lasting solution to security problems with Croatia. The UN Security Council yesterday extended the mandate of 28 military monitors on Prevlaka, a peninsula at the border between Croatia and the Yugoslav Republic of Montenegro, for another six months. We can be relatively satisfied with the resolution, Simonovic said in New York. As its most important elements, the ambassador singled out the fact that it explicitly confirms Croatia's integrity, and treats Prevlaka as a security and not territorial issue. Simonovic said if these elements were considered as a whole, the conclusion was that the Security Council had the following message for the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: You have one more opportunity to solve your security issues in agreement with Croatia; but bear in mind that the international community recognises Croatia's territorial integrity and that, since the situation on Prevlaka no longer represents a threat to peace and security, the UN observers may leave after 15 July 1998, if Croatia no longer wants them. Simonovic said Croatia would be happier had the resolution been as explicit in its language as Croatia's above outlined interpretation of its text, but hoped that even in its adopted form it would incite Yugoslavia to join serious negotiations. (hina) ha mm 142301 MET jan 98