CRO FOREIGN MINISTER GIVES STATEMENT ABOARD VUKOVAR-BOUND TRAIN

( Editorial: --> 4626 ) SLAVONSKI BROD (train), 15 Jan (Hina) - Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic, one of the passengers aboard a special train which left Zagreb for Vukovar Thursday morning, said that the UNTAES withdrawal and everything that would follow in the Croatian Danube River region was important for Croatia's overall credibility. Granic said that some foreign ambassadors to Croatia told him that several years ago few had believed that Croatian authorities would be able to peacefully reclaim that part of Croatia's territory. Without the completion of peaceful reintegration, which is one of preconditions for its joining Euro-Atlantic and Central-European integration processes, Croatia could not have counted on joining those processes, Granic said. (hina) jn rm 151214 MET jan 98